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Florida20
483

The August sun was a hellish ball of fire and getting into the pool was heaven after spending the last hour mowing the lawn. Sighing dramatically, I called out to Rhys. “Holy shit, you still working that garden? Don’t think for a second I’m going to help your inefficient ass.”

My twin brother stood up from his labors and wiped a perspiring brow with the back of his gloved hand. His other hand held a sagging clump of weeds. He wore nothing but sandals, board shorts, and dirt-laden gloves. His lean torso was literally dripping with sweat.

“This shit’s harder than it looks, asshole,” he said with a smile as he threw the handful of plants into a nearby trashcan.

Rhys and I had graduated high school three glorious months earlier and were both a day away from departing for college. Our parents and little sister were off “running errands,” which we suspected meant they were getting us send-off gifts. We both figured having them return to a freshly manicured lawn was a nice way to pay them back. My brother, apparently done with his task, walked over and sat at the edge of the pool, letting his legs hang in the water. We were each a little over 6’1,” a little under 170, with brown hair, blue eyes, and long, lean bodies. Too lean in my opinion. However, I had no trouble admitting we were each more than a little attractive. We had faces which made girls melt on site and had both taken advantage of that fact over the last few years. We played sports to a limited extent and remained active, but neither of us had spent any time in a weight room.

That was all going to change for me. I’d wanted to put on gobs of muscle for years but never felt I had the opportunity to work out seriously. Rhys was a bit of a brain and never showed much interest in the gym. That was ok with me. All twins eventually find ways to differentiate themselves from the other and I was going to be the buff one. Over the summer, I’d been doing pushups and situps every night. The effort had given me a bit of a chest and a nice four pack. All-in-all though, we still looked exactly the same to the casual observer. It took a few weeks before new friends could tell us apart. He was a little taller, I a little beefier, he had a more squared jaw, I had slightly higher cheekbones. All differences were subtle but they summed up our physical individualities.

Confusing one for the other wouldn’t be a problem for long: my brother and I would be starting fresh at two different universities the next day. We were pretty much each other’s best friend so were still getting used to the idea of being apart. I didn’t get into the school he really wanted to attend and that was that. Despite our physical similarities, there were different things going on upstairs. Let’s just say Rhys’ SAT score beat mine by a few touchdowns…a few dozen touchdowns.

I could tell my brother was thinking about the next day too. “We’ll call each other every day,” I said. “We’ll see each other for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Our spring breaks match up exactly.”

Rhys smiled but truth was we were ready for a bit of a separation. It was me who encouraged him to go to his dream school in the first place.

Anyway, we got some luggage from the family; the parents acted as if we built them a new house when they saw the yard. All was well in the world. The next day we said goodbye to our sister (who stayed home to watch the dogs), got in three separate cars (mine, his, and the parents’) and headed 300 miles north to my brother’s school. It would be a quick afternoon of unpacking before we’d have an early dinner and leave my brother to his own devices. Then we’d travel another few hundred miles to my new school.

The first leg of the trip went by quickly and we made it without a hitch. The campus was abuzz with activity, littered mothers, and fathers, and their kids yearning to be free. After a quick lunch, we got to work unpacking Rhys’s stuff. As I helped make the bed, I couldn’t help but look at the bare mattress six feet away. Rhys’ roommate had yet to arrive but I was already to suppressing a little jealousy that the bed wasn’t mine. Maybe this would be a harder separation than I thought. I occasionally looked out the window to the grassy field between the buildings where freshmen were already congregating and getting to know each other. Footballs were being thrown and young bodies sunbathed. Flirting was rampant.

My dad was out with Rhys at the nearby Home Depot (dad always needed to put his own constructional touch on everything) while my mother and I finished the room off. She was removing clothes from a suitcase and putting them in the drawers when there was a knock against our open door.

My mother and I turned to see a kid my age standing alone in the doorway. He was a few inches shorter than me, maybe 5’8, had brown hair and eyes, and a dimpled smile that ensured he would have a baby face through his late forties. The boyishness ended there; He had the body of an Olympic gymnast. His loose fitting sleeveless shirt revealed arms bulging with smooth beef. Shoulders the size of softballs disappeared into a shirt completely drenched with sweat. The moisture made the shirt cling to his chest like plastic wrap, revealing two very pronounced bulges between his shoulders.

“You must be Rhys Tansey,” he said as he made his way in. The newcomer started to look a little nervous and I realized that both my mother and I were pretty much gawking at him.

“Hey,” I said, trying to sound casual as I stood up and offered my hand. “I’m actually Rhys’s brother, Ryan. Rhys should be back any minute now.”

“Oh,” he said with a smile as he shook my hand. “Well I’m Kevin.” He pointed at the bed. “Looks like I’ll be your brother’s roommate.”

Kevin went back to the hallway and rolled in a hotel style luggage cart which held all his belongings. I wanted to ask where his parents were but remained silent; not knowing if that would uncover a sensitive topic. To my surprise, the first thing he did was open a suitcase and strip off his shirt. Although not as vascular as the guys you see on fitness magazines, the kid was built like a brick house. Even with a little fat around his midsection, you could still make out six distinguishable abdominal bricks below a pair of gorged pecs which cast a pretty substantial shadow on them. I found myself gawking again. The way the muscle fibers danced below the skin on his shoulders filled me with a burn. I wanted that. That’s what I want to look like. Maybe a little more ripped but I’d trade with him in a heartbeat. Packing that much muscle on a 6’1 frame would be a lot of work, maybe 60 pounds of work. You gotta start somewhere though, right?

Looks like you’re gonna have some competition in the girls department, Rhys, I thought with an internal grin. Although shorter and with more boyish good looks than the mature ones we sported, his ridiculous physique would definitely turn heads.

“Sorry,” he said as he put on a new shirt, this one with sleeves. “But it’s hot as balls out there and I was sweating like a pregnant nun.” He stopped and his face reddened. Then he turned to mom. “I’m sorry Mrs. Tansey.” Then he smiled at her.

I bet that grin has got him out of trouble more than a couple times, I thought. I could see this guy majoring in motivational speaking (if that even existed). He had that let’s do this attitude that some people hated but the rest followed.

My mom smiled back. “Don’t worry Kevin. I have two of you and a husband with a mouth that would put yours to bed.”

I didn’t quite know what that meant but had no plans to call her out. Kevin started unpacking at a rapid pace. He didn’t have much stuff, most of his belongings consisted of clothing and supplements.

A few moments later the rest of the family came back and dad made a quick shelving addition to the dorm’s desk. Then we were off to a 5 pm dinner. Kevin, with no family present to speak of, came along at my mother’s insistence.

Rhys and Kevin hit it off quickly. He was even good at telling us apart…sort of.

“Don’t switch shirts on me guys,” he said as he began wolfing down his steak. “Else I won’t know who is who anymore.”

He tore into his meal as if he were starving. My mother’s instincts go the best of her.

“When was the last time you ate, Kevin,” she asked, her face lined with worry.

Kevin stopped chewing a moment and looked at her slightly confused. “I dunno, three hours ago?”

My mother relaxed. “Sorry, it just—“

Kevin blushed a bit. “Sorry Mrs. T, I just eat a lot and have to be quick about it.”

Mom nodded.

“I wrestled all throughout high school and they made me eat a lot. So food is more of a task than a pleasure these days,” Kevin continued. “I’m done with wrestling I guess,” he said somewhat sadly. “But I’m trying to work out a little more. Put on some mass, ya know? I met a few guys at the gym this morning before I started unpacking my stuff. They have a weightlifting club or something I was thinking of joining.”

My dad brightened. “Rhys, maybe you could join too. Ryan’s starting to make you look bad.”

I beamed but kept it internal. Dad noticed I was getting a little bigger! Rhys’s face flushed a little and he looked at Kevin, eyebrows raised.

“Sure man,” Kevin said with that winning smile. “We’ll keep each other motivated.”

Apparently it was decided. I wondered how long Rhys would keep up a workout routine. He was dedicated to academics and the opposite sex, but had never shown much interest in making his muscles bigger. I was a torrent of jealousy, though. I could only dream of having such a good role model when I move into my dorm room. The thought only made me more excited about my freshman year. I’d come home looking like a fucking stud.

Anyway, dinner passed quickly. We dropped off my brother and Kevin back at the dorm. My mother cried, my dad gave a rare hug, and before I knew it I was back in my car following the parents down the interstate. We crashed at a hotel late that night and were setting up my dorm room by nine the next morning. I met my new roommate, Steve, who had unpacked the day before. He wasn’t exactly what I had in mind a day earlier. He was friendly enough but made it pretty clear he was going to be staying at his girlfriend’s dorm more often than not.

Fine by me, I guess.

After another speedy unpacking and the standard ciao lunch with the parents, I waved them goodbye. I was finally a college student. I felt like giving my best Braveheart freedom yell. Odds were my parents were in the process of doing the same thing. Instead, I settled into the life of a college student.

The first few weeks went by without a hitch. My brother and I spoke a few times but we each started to slack a bit as we settled into our new lives. I made friends quickly and found my roommate lived up to his word. I barely saw him more than a few minutes a day, if that often.

I was true to my intention. I started working out like I always wanted to. At 6’1, 170 I was pretty thin and knew it would take a lot of effort before I started looking the way I wanted. I figured 200 pounds by the end of the school year was a good goal. I didn’t precisely know what to do but how hard could it be? Pick heavy things up and put them down, right?

After a few weeks, I started looking a little more cut but hadn’t gained any weight. Oh well, I thought. Guess it just takes some time.

Six weeks into my first semester, I was awoken by a buzzing near my ear. My head sprang up, a little crazed and confused before I realized it was the phone I kept on the nearby nightstand. The screen revealed my brother’s name. I shook the sleep from my eyes and looked at my clock. A little past midnight on a Tuesday night. This had better be good, I thought as I accepted the call.

“Yeah?” I asked in a raspy voice that obviously wanted to be sleeping. I was answered by garbled nonsense. Shit, I thought to myself. The ass just butt-dialed me. It wasn’t the first time. Being his primary speed dial resulted in an involuntary call about once every couple months. It usually wasn’t a big deal since I was often with him when he did it. Now it was a little different. I was about to hang up when I suddenly made out heavy breathing. A few seconds later I heard a grunt.

I smiled like a twelve year old kid. Holy shit, he’s fucking someone. A good brother couldn’t let something like this go to waste. I quickly took the phone from my ear and opened up the recording app. After pressing record, I put my ear to the phone again. Talk dirty to her, I thought with a smirk.

“Oh god,” I heard through the heavy breaths. The voice was muted and distorted but there was no doubt it was Rhys’s. Who fucks with their pants on? I asked myself, assuming there was no other explanation for an accidental call. I tried to keep from laughing. “This is fucking awesome,” Rhys continued. “I’m getting huge.” Oh this is rich. Being his twin, I was perfectly aware of where we racked in the package department. We beat the average by a good bit but…huge?

Ah, the things we say in the act of love, I thought.

Another voice introduced itself. “Keep ----- going. ----- working.” My jaw dropped. The voice was definitely garbled and distant, allowing me to make out only an occasional word but one thing was completely clear…the voice belonged to a male.

How come he never told me? I thought. My desire to listen in was wavering with the fear I was learning a secret he wasn’t ready to tell. However, something kept my ear glued to the phone.

The breathing continued and the stranger’s voice chimed in again. “----- me ---- your arm,” the voice said. It sounded strangely familiar. Is that Kevin? All-American boy Kevin is my brother’s lover? “------ incredible,” the voice said. There was suddenly a sharp noise that sounded like crumpling a bag of potato chips.

The voices returned but were too distant to make out. They conversed for a few minutes before he voices became clearer.

“------ awesome. You’re ------- than ------- now.” the other guy said. There was a pause. “------- that ------ phone?”

“Oh shit,” my brother said. There was a noticeable rustle then the line went dead.

I stared at the phone for a moment, half expecting my brother to call me back with some weird explanation for what just happened. But he didn’t. I wasn’t sure what I’d just heard. It could have been sex but there were too many other noises for it to be as simple as that. I put the phone down and tried to sleep. It did not come quickly.

CHAPTER 2

“Hey bro,” I said the following afternoon as I walked to my last class.

“Hey,” Rhys replied. He somehow sounded different; like he had a cold. “How were classes today?”

“Same ol’ same ol,” I replied. I wasn’t digging the small talk. My mind was on a single track right now and I couldn’t help but get to the chase. “Got a strange voicemail from you last night.”

There was a pause. “Yeah, I saw that I called you,” my brother said. His voice was definitely deeper. “Sorry about that. It was pretty late.”

“No worries. What were you doing?” I asked with a grin. Let’s hear it.

“Kevin and I were working out,” Rhys responded immediately.

“Working out, huh?” I said, playing the game. “At midnight? How’s it going?”

I stopped walking. There was a hint of something in his voice that I couldn’t quite place. “Rhys, is there something you have to tell me?”

Another pause, this time longer. “Everything’s fine, man. Don’t worry,” my brother said. His voice was still shrouding something. “Hey, I gotta go. I’m walking into class right now.”

“Ok buddy,” I said, slightly deflated. “Talk to ya later.” I put my phone back in my pocket and continued walking to class. I thought about his tone. It sounded almost as if he were…giddy. Well, I thought. Guess I should be happy as long as he’s happy.

It didn’t take long before I realized I didn’t care in the slightest if my brother was gay or not. I was happy for him either way. I had to admit I had a little bit of a man-crush on Kevin and his chiseled abdominals too. Or, maybe they were working out. It was his business…that didn’t keep me from stalking my brother on Facebook though. There was a gnawing anxiety in my gut that I just couldn’t place. Spying from the electronic bushes of the internet seemed to help ease it though.

I rarely took part in social networking my brother was pretty active on it while in high school. I clicked through the electronic story of his last six weeks. He’d made quite a few friends in that time, split relatively evenly down the gender lines. All the guys, and girls for that matter, looked like fitness freaks. He’d recently ‘liked’ something called Crossfit, a movie called Pumping Iron, a few nutritional supplements…

Hmm, I thought. I guess he has been bit by the fitness bug. The anxiety gnawing at my stomach intensified but I finally placed it…Was I being left behind by my own brother? Physically being the “same” for so long made me take it for granted. He was already the smarter one; what if he came back the stronger one too? I’d been working out like a madman but with no real guidance. What if he had a personal trainer? I had to find out. Rhys’s profile picture was the same as from the summer. I clicked on the rest of his photos only to find out that they were all private now. My anxiety increased and any thoughts of my brother’s sexuality were shoved to the backburner.

Desperate, I started clicking on his new friend’s profiles and scoured their pictures on the off chance my brother was in them. Many of them were private too, including Kevin’s. After a half hour of this I had nothing other than the knowledge that all his college friends were apparently gym rats. I continued to search and it wasn’t until I searched the albums of a club he liked called “the Fitz Mafia” that a picture caught my eye. It showed a group of about a dozen college aged males, most of them familiar thanks to the stalking of the last few minutes. In the center sat a very elderly looking man in a wheelchair, dressed in a brown suit. He had razor sharp eyes and a somewhat haunting grin, like he was up to no good. I picked out Kevin standing with his hand on the old man’s shoulder, shirtless and looking as swollen as ever. In fact, although every bit as big as before, he looked leaner and more defined. The chubby abdominal bricks from six weeks ago had partially melted away. The pic was too pixilated to see anything more detailed. The rest of the group wore an assortment of gym attire, some with shirts some without, some the size of college bodybuilders, others more lean. All of them looked to be in good shape.

On the far left stood my brother, wearing a t-shirt I recognized. Although somewhat grainy, I could make out his form relatively well and he was by no means the muscle monster I was beginning to imagine. I took a closer look. His arms might have been bigger. Were his traps standing a little higher on his shoulders or was I just grasping at straws? Compared to most of the company surrounding him, he was a twig…but maybe that was masking any increase in his size.

I put my hand over the rest of the group, leaving only my brother visible. It was there, a slight widening of his shoulder. Maybe a vein on the visible part of his bicep. “Damn, dude,” I whispered. I looked at the date and was shocked to see that it was posted over three weeks ago. Whatever changes I did or did not see had occurred over two or three weeks!

I sat back, my heart racing. I was supposed to be the bigger one. Rhys was one of the smallest in the group, sure, but what about next week? Next month? I flexed my arm and looked at it. A nice bicep formed but it was mostly due to my lack of fat. Then I looked back at my brother. This wasn’t right…

* * *

“I haven’t heard from you in a while,” I said one rainy Thursday evening. “I just wanted to see how you were doing.”

Rhys was obviously munching on something and took a while to answer. “Sorry bro, I’ve been busy. Not all of us can skate by without studying.”

I forced a smile he couldn’t see. “So all you’ve been doing is studying?”

“Heh. Well, ya know. There’s other stuff in college too.” Again, I heard him munching over the phone. Probably some kind of protein bar or something.

The phone went dead. It was mid-October, ten weeks into the school year. I was having the time of my life but there my brother was always lurking in my mind. I’d recently started going to the gym more but still hadn’t seen much of a difference.

Maybe I need a workout partner, I thought.

The weeks went by. I found a buddy to work out with. He was a beginner just like me but apparently spent a lot more time researching the subject…apparently there’s a lot more to weightlifting than I thought. Apparently I had to start eating more.

So I did.

I responded relatively well, putting on a couple pounds by November at the expense of my former six pack. Calls with my brother were relatively rare, which was understandable. He was my brother, not my girlfriend. The conversations were normal for the most part…maybe I was making too big a deal with this.

One night, I found myself Facebook stalking my brother again. It started when I noticed he finally changed his profile picture. It was a headshot of him and some girl. She took it herself, so only their head and neck were visible. His face still looked the same but his neck bulged. It could have been because they were lying down and he was lifting his head for the picture. It was too hard to tell. So I went hunting again, looking through all his pictures, his friend’s pictures. It didn’t take long for me to wander back to the Fitz Mafia page. My heart leaped through my neck when I saw a familiar group standing in a familiar setting with the same old man in a wheel chair. Kevin, still shirtless, stood right next to the old man. He looked ready to win a bodybuilding contest. His short body must have held over two hundred pounds of solid muscle. I couldn’t be sure; I wasn’t a good judge of such things. Come to think of it…

I pulled up the older picture (which I had saved on my hard drive) of the group for comparison. There was no doubt Kevin was bigger. His shoulders were the size of cantaloupes and covered with ridges and valleys. Lean traps bulged from them and snaked halfway up his wide neck. His chest was striated even in their relaxed state and any fat that once say around his midsection was gone. His abdomen was a brick wall of muscle now. Most of the others in the front row looked bigger too. Even the lean ones now had muscular bulges wherever they showed skin. I silently cursed the computer screen when I saw my brother now standing near the middle of the back row. He was the tallest in the group but not enough to see more than his head and neck. His lower legs were visible but shadowed enough to hide everything. His neck did look bigger and his traps looked bigger too. It was impossible to tell; he could have been the size of Kevin and I wouldn’t have been able to tell.

I leaned back and sighed with both embarrassment and frustration. Embarrassed because I was stalking my own brother; frustrated because I wasn’t very good at it. I glanced at the Facebook page again and noticed the names tagged on the side. Benjamin “Godfather” Fitz was one of them. It was the only one without a link, as if there was no profile associated with it.

A quick elimination process against the profiles of the other names narrowed this Godfather’s identity down to the old man in the center. Dr. Fitz has him on a crazy regimen, Kevin had said.

“Curiouser and curiouser,” I said as I Googled his name… gotta love the internet.

I’d gotten pretty good at this whole internet stalking thing and found his familiar face in no time. It turns out he was an emeritus professor at the school my brother was attending. His university profile was easy enough to find. Double major in Biology and Chemistry, masters in Applied Biomechanics, thirty years in government research, got a doctorate along the way. Specialized in degenerative diseases and human endurance…whatever that means.

The profile was dull but set my mind wandering. The two pictures of his mafia and the rapid development of the front row only fed my creativity. I imagined my brother being introduced to some mad scientist, who gave him some new super-supplement that turned him into a muscle beast.

My storming brain didn’t help my sleep. I dreamt of coming home one late November evening and seeing Rhys’s car already in the driveway. I walked to the door and opened into a house cloaked in night. A noise coming from the kitchen drew my attention so I made my way there. As I rounded the corner, I saw the back of a figure holding open a refrigerator door. He was hunched down and looking for something to eat. The light in the refrigerator could have doubled as a small sun; it blackened every detail of the figure, revealing only a gargantuan silhouette. His shoulders and back were as wide as a door way. Before I could try to make out any other details, the man shut the door, leaving the room lit only by outside’s fading twilight. I tried to blink away the afterglow of the radioactive refrigerator but in the meantime I could make out only general shapes and nothing more. However, that’s all it took to realize the man was more than a hand taller than me and half again as wide.

“Hey there little brother,” the man said with a baritone voice. “Need a light?” His hand reached for the light switch on the wall.

CHAPTER 3

I woke up as if from a nightmare; the anxious feeling in my stomach now feeling like an ulcer. The rational side of my brain tried to tell me that this was overreaction on an epic scale. However, that voice was quiet and docile compared to the earth shaking banshee screaming that I no longer had an identical twin. I can’t quite describe what I felt. It was like being in middle school and coming back from summer vacation to find your best friend hit puberty and was suddenly taller, bigger, and stronger than you. Rules written when only magnified by the fact it was my own twin brother.

I thought about that for a moment and allowed the mousy little voice of reason a soapbox to stand on. Goofy conspiracy theories aside, he was my twin; my genetic match. Whatever he could do with his body, so could I. I suddenly found myself filled with a newfound resolve.

I ditched my old workout partner and tried to make friends with the buffest gym rats I could find. It was, after all, the same thing Rhys had done. Within a few days I was working out regularly with a junior named Terry, who’d actually competed in a few contests over the last few years. He was about 5’10,”225 lbs, and just started his bulking regimen. He wanted to get up to 245 before cutting back down. He seemed like the right guy. One conversation was all it took to make me feel like the last ten weeks had been a waste of time.

“Dude, you’re a straight up ectomorph,” he said as if I knew what that meant. “You have to be eating, like, six thousand calories a day if you want to gain weight.” He saw my face drop. “Hey, consider yourself lucky. They called me Pillsbury Dough Boy until my sophomore year of high school. Look at you. You look like a fucking model. I bet you’ve been getting laid since before girls even noticed I existed, and I’m two years older than you!” His lips curled in a mean smile. “Actually, I should probably hate you right now…people like you were the ones that would single me out at dodge ball.”

My mouth must have dropped beneath a pair of eyes filled with horror because Terry immediately laughed and smacked me on the back. “Dude, relax. I’m just kidding.”

That was all fine and good but wasn’t what I cared about. I looked at Terry. Regardless of what he once was, he was a fucking beast now. “I don’t care if I have to eat a horse every day; make me look like you.”

Kevin shrugged. “Well, it’s not impossible. But remember, everybody is different. Even during my chub-chub stage I was always pretty strong. I just had to shed the fat to show it. It’s all about your genetics man. I have to watch every piece of food I put in my mouth; I bet you can eat anything and not worry about losing those abs.” He paused, and the muscles of his jaw squirmed as he tried to think of the right thing to say. “Look man, I’m not saying you’ll be twiggy the rest of your life. We can put some serious beef on you. You may not look like me at the end, but you’ll have a body that could sit on an underwear ad. Besides, between you and me, that’s what the chicks are digging anyway.”

That didn’t sound all that bad. Besides, Rhys had the same genes and the same potential. If I maxed out mine then, at worst, we’d tie.

I felt more dedicated than I’d ever been before. I had a month until Thanksgiving and I wanted to pack as much meat on my slim 6’1 173 lb frame as I could. He made me eat so much I actually started to hate the taste of food. He had me buy supplements I didn’t even know the purpose of. I forgot what it was like to wake up without hurting. The payoff was that it seemed to be working. I gained two pounds the first week.

That weekend I got another butt-dial from my brother. I was eating a burger (my second dinner) I’d gotten to-go from the school cafeteria when my phone rang. The familiar garbled noises were all I needed to know this was not an intentional call. This time the special guest’s voice was female and there was no doubt there was something naughty going on.

“Hurry,” she said breathlessly.

“I’m trying,” Rhys said. “I can’t get this fucking shirt off.”

“Just rip it off. You need new clothes anyway.” The volume of the white noise intensified and I assumed it indicated my brother was turning his shirt into rags. Then it got so loud I had to pull the phone away from my ear. A series of grunts and pants later, the background noise stopped altogether. I was left only with the suddenly more distant voices of my brother and his new friend.

“Goddamn,” I heard her say breathlessly. “----- ----- amazing.”

“You ----- seen ----- ----,” my brother said. After that, the words ceased and I was left with noises that would have been completely unintelligible had earlier clues not given away their meaning. He must have thrown his pants (and phone) on the floor.

I listened for a moment longer before I got bored and hung up.

Well I guess that answered the question about his sexuality. But there were so many more… Why couldn’t he get his shirt off? Was it the thrill of the moment or was he too damn big to meander out of it now? While the pillow talk of a person you’re with always sounds true to ear its meant for, it takes a third party to really judge their honesty...as the said third party, I could tell the girl meant every word. She was in complete awe of my brother.

My primitive instincts took over. I went out that night, had a few beers, took home a girl, and banged her into another time zone. There was no doubt she enjoyed it…but not once did her voice convey the utter lust I heard on the phone.

* * *

Two weeks and another two pounds later, I saw a strange comment on Rhys’s Facebook page. It was from a guy named Raul, one of the muscle buddies from those group pictures.

“Hey bud, you left your phone in Fitz’s lab yesterday. I guess I would have left in a hurry if I were in your circumstances, too. That was fucking A-M-A-Z-I-N-G! The prof said you’re his best student yet. Anyway, I have your phone. Come by anytime.”

First coeds now bodybuilders? Was everyone in complete awe of my brother? I clicked on Raul’s profile and saw his phone number in his personal info. I entered the number in my phone but let my thumb hover over the call button as I tried to think of how this would go…

How’s it going? You have my phone?...Rhys, my man! Yeah, I have your phone. Dude that was incredible yesterday…Yeah? What was so incredible?...Dude, you fucking grew right out of your shirt! What are you, Three hundred pounds now?...Something like that. What did the Fitz say?...He said he wants you to take more of his serum. He wants you to be even bigger…Oh yeah?...Yeah man, we’re all so jealous. We’re growing like crazy but you’ve outpaced us all. What’s your secret?...Good genetics I guess…Yeah, well Fitz wants to try this shit on your brother too. Says experimenting on a set of twins would be perfect. I’m sorry to say he has something stronger in mind for your brother…

The scenario made my heart gallop and my imagination ran with it. I nearly dialed him, convinced the conversation would go just like that. Then reality called in with a more likely alternative:

Hey who’s this?...This is Rhys calling from a friend’s line? You have my phone?...Doesn’t sound like Rhys… It’s me, budd. So how’d yesterday go?...(A pause) Who the fuck is this? Then he’d hang up and a couple hours later I’d get a phone call from my brother. Dude, what do you think you’re doing?...I dunno, Rhys, I just wanted to see what was going on?...Quit spying on me Ryan. It’s fucking creepy. CLICK…

I never dialed. Most people let unknown numbers go straight to voicemail anyway.

I did feel the urge to check on this Benjamin Fitz character again and spent over an hour sifting through mostly uninformative crap. His work for the government didn’t show up anywhere. Then I got a wild hair…he’s a professor…professors write for journals…every university has some sort of access software for their students.

I logged onto AcademiaScape and searched his name. Bam! First thing that showed up: “A Study of the Effects of Gene ACTN3 Infusion on Laboratory Mice.” It was co-authored by Dr. Benjamin Fitz and a Richard Powers, PhD. Clicking on the link revealed only the abstract. The actual paper was apparently too high profile.

This study is a follow-up to the “mighty mice” experiment conducted at John Hopkins University in 1997. In order to be a suitable treatment for degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy, human myostatin suppression therapy must be accompanied by an associated cell wall booster which protects skeletal muscle membrane during extreme hypertrophy. The negative effects associated with such a breakdown can be shown in the now famous Hayden Smith case. What follows is a comprehensive examination of the gene ACTN3 and its associated affects on laboratory specimens. Where most myostatin suppressed mice experience severe structural degeneration accompanied by the increase in muscle volume, the ACTN3 mice showed none of these adverse affects. In fact, cardiovascular health and pulmonary activity was seen to improve…

That was all that was available…not even a full abstract. It sent my gut into a tizzy again. My brother was part of some crazy experiment. This old man had tricked a dozen college students into taking part in his experiments. Did Rhys have to sign his life away to do it? Was it dangerous? Did my parents know?

I had a picture of the two of us on my desk showing a day on a beach just last summer. The two of us had our arms around each other’s shoulders, skin bronzed from a summer outdoors. Even to me, our resemblance was uncanny. Two teens, identical save for the color of their board shorts. I blinked. Well identical save for the slightly bigger pecs on my brother. The overhead sun seemed to cast a shadow across his upper abs in a way that mine didn’t. For that matter, he had better abs too. A trick of the light? His shoulders were a bit more globular. And he had a nice vein running down the center of his bicep. Wait, he was taller too. I had to reach up to rest my arm on his shoulder. My brother grew wider, his skinny frame bulging in all the right places. His traps rose up and his shoulders expanded out, pushing my arm up and forcing my hand to slide off his shoulder and onto his back. My 170 pound brother was now over 200 and still growing. He was ripped but still lean as striations appeared across his chest and shoulders. A valley formed where bicep met triceps and grew deeper as the muscle around it swelled out. His once soft looking skin now looked hard as it stretched over his growing body. Ripped and lean became jacked and huge as his body exploded with growth. His board shorts grew tight across his growing body as quads the size of his waist stretched the fabric like spandex. A huge teardrop bulged just above his knee and the lines of his thighs deepened. My head now came up to Rhys’s chest as his body ballooned past 250 pounds. I couldn’t help but notice that I was now literally in his shadow as his growth blocked out the sun…

I closed my eyes and shook my head. When I looked back at the picture it was the same it has always been. Two twins enjoying the last days of summer together. My imagination was wild but was it inaccurate?

What was he going through right now? Did he wake up every morning feeling bigger and stronger? His body harder? Was he bigger than all the studs that seemed to adore him?

Two days later I called my brother again. I guess he’d gotten back his phone.

“Hello?” the voice on the other line said. It was deep and raspy.

“Hey Rhys? What’s wrong with your voice?” There was a clearing of the throat on the other line.

“Sorry, bro,” Rhys said. “I was at our football game yesterday. Yelled myself horse. Got a fucking sunburn during it too. My back is as red as a fire truck. Everyone’s been saying I needed a good tan…assholes.”

“Oh, ok,” I said. “Thanksgiving is this Wednesday. You want me to head over there a day early so we can carpool home?”

“Naw, man. It’s kind of out of your way and the traffic is brutal heading south. I should get home Tuesday around dinner time. Kim has a dance recital that day so the parents won’t be getting home until nine or something. We can catch up then. I can’t wait to see ya.”

There was laughter on the other side. “You know it.” He paused and his voice grew serious. “We have a lot to talk about. Later.”

“What do we have to-“ I started but he had hung up before I could get out the first word.

I may have tried to tell myself I was upset with his decision to let a doctor experiment on him. Truth was I’d do the exact same thing if given the chance. Although torrents of different emotions crossed through my mind like a series of entwined spaghetti noodles, all were smothered with a thick sauce of jealousy.

The next day I shocked myself by finally opening up about my brother. Terry, my new workout partner, and I had become pretty good friends over the last few weeks and he knew something was eating me. Before I knew it I was spilling my guts out as we finished up our workout. I didn’t tell him everything…I left most of the stalking out, making the discoveries seem more accidental than they were. Nevertheless, I prepared myself for a strange look and a lost friend. That didn’t bother me; it felt really good to finally talk about everything.

I got the weird look but Terry didn’t seem to be looking for the nearest exit. “Dude, just ask him. Hell, give me his number and I’ll ask him. Personally, I think you’ve been watching too many b-rated science fiction movies but, shit, if that’s true then get me in line for that shit.”

Well I’m not sure what I wanted him to say but I guess that wasn’t it.

“Look,” he continued, “it’s neat to dream about some crazy pill that turns on the muscle switch and lets us grow at will. But life ain’t like that. This old cook probably just has some supplement that’ll be all the rage for a month before a new one comes out. I’ve seen it a dozen times…and have taken all of them. It’s the same shit. At the end of the day it’s all about eating, lifting, and sleeping. The rest is genetics. It’s hard for even me to admit that but it’s true all the same.”

I shrugged, still deep in thought as we went through the front door.

I could tell Terry was getting a little agitated at my grumpiness. “Man, you’re such a fucking pouter when things don’t go your way. Take the sand out of your vagina and either ask him or get over it.” He thought for a second. “Let me see those pictures you were talking about,” he said as he put his sunglasses on. I pulled out my phone and loaded the page with the group shots and the old man. Terry looked at them for a while, shifting between one and the other a few times before speaking. “Well, that guy in the middle is definitely making some impressive gains. I’ve never seen anyone cut down bodyfat AND gain muscle like that.” He looked a little more. “A lot of these guys are making big gains. Not all of them, but a lot of them. You’re right though; it’s hard to tell what’s going on with your brother.” His finger flicked the screen a few more times. Then his eyebrows rose. “You said there’s only two? Looks like they posted a third buddy.” He smiled as I tried to grab the phone. Although longer of limb, he easily deflected my attacks with one muscles arm. “Hmm,” he said as he simultaneously investigated the picture and held me off. “I don’t see your brother though. That kid in the middle is sure packing it though.” He handed over the phone.

I snatched it away as if that afforded me some sort of victory. This picture was different. Although Kevin was still front and center, Dr. Fitz was now off to the side. To say he was jacked would be an understatement. He stood in what looked to be boxer shorts with the rest of the group standing around and beside him. He was giving the camera a double bicep pose and looked ready to kick some ass. He was as shredded as I’ve ever seen a person who wasn’t airbrushed by some magazine editor and beat his weight in the last pic by at least ten pounds.

“I’ve seen guys like that center kid before,” Terry said from over my shoulder. “I bet he had a sixpack at seven years old and could bounce his pecs before he had hair on his dick. In high school I played football with a kid who intentionally didn’t work out with weights because it made him too big to play running back. Some people are just made to be beasts like that.” He paused. “Not sure why he’s cutting now. Contest season isn’t until summer; he should be bulking.”

“Maybe he is,” I said barely above a whisper.

My attention drifted to the rest of the group. All wore familiar faces. While the first two pictures had the group organized in rows as if for a team shot, this one was a lot more informal. They were all looking at Kevin with various forms of comic expression, some with exaggerated shock or awe. It was hard to compare each to their previous picture but some looked a little bigger and NONE looked any smaller. And only eleven guys plus Dr. Fitz were visible, meaning my brother took a break this shot for some reason. Wait… there was an arm visible on the left side of the picture, as if someone had been inadvertently been cropped out. I could only see a forearm and a bit of the upper arm. Whoever it belonged to was pointing dramatically at Kevin. The forearm was covered in bulges and I could see the unmistakable beginnings of what had to be a truly spectacular tricep. Terry noticed me zooming in on the arm and I heard his breath catch.

“You don’t think—“ he started. My silence was answer enough. “Naw, man. Look at that arm…look at your arm. We’re talking different planets here. Maybe he’s the guy that usually takes the picture and your brother decided to volunteer this time.” Terry laughed. “They obviously won’t ask him again if he can’t keep everyone in the shot.”

I chuckled. “All good points,” I said as I took back my phone.

Terry looked at me moment before letting out an exaggerated sigh. “All right, crazy man,” he said as we got to his car. “You think what you want to. You’ll find out tomorrow anyway.” He went to his car door and opened it. “Have a great Thanksgiving. Be sure to eat everything in sight. See ya on Monday.” He started to get in his car but stopped himself and turned back to me as I continued to stare at the picture.“You wanna know what I think?” he asked.

“Do I have a choice?” I asked back with a smile.

“Not at all,” Terry said. “I think you WANT your brother to be on some sort of super steroid. You WANT him to get huge and strong. You WANT to go home and see a twin who could rip you in half. Admit it, you’d be pretty disappointed if you got home tomorrow only to see your brother was still just linke you.” Then he got in and drove off.

That night I dreamt I was wrestling my brother in the dark. I couldn’t see him, only hear him grunting and feel him writhing around me. I was slightly stronger and slowly dominating my twin. Suddenly there was a shift. My brother’s resistance was a little stronger. His grunts grew deeper. Then his body started getting harder and harder. I felt him swell under my now struggling hands. What was once soft and bony was now hard and dense, as if liquid concrete was being pumped into his body, where it hardened immediately upon finding its place. Pretty soon I was being toyed with like a cat toys with a ball. My hands aimed indiscriminately, trying to grab hold. Everything I touched was hard as granite and continued to bulge more and more. His muscles flexed and relaxed as he continued to grow. Then he started laughing. I was resisting with every ounce of my strength but the effort only tickled him. Then he grabbed my forearms with his hands and pulled them behind me. I couldn’t move my arms an inch. His hot breath brushed my ear as he whispered in my ear. “See you tomorrow buddy.”

I woke up with my sheets wrapped around me like a straight-jacket. It took me over a minute to squirm out of them. It took far longer for my heart to stop racing. It was a seven-ish hour ride home and I had one exam keeping me from getting in the car.

I might as well have skipped the class. I couldn’t read a question without my mind picturing swollen renditions of my brother. I turned the test in, unsure what I put down. I got in the car just before eleven which should have me home by seven.

The drive left me alone with my thoughts, which was somewhat dangerous these days. I know most people would think I was over-reacting to the point of lunacy. For one, I didn’t have any proof that my brother had developed into anything. The idea of some strange old scientist experimenting on a bunch of college kids was absurd. And probably illegal unless they signed a medical test waiver or something…and only homeless, desperate people did that. My brother was too smart to get suckered into some medical experiment. Besides, even if he WAS participating, it’s not like he could get that much bigger in such a short time. Right? My brother was just working out a lot and was showing SOME improvements. That’s all.

Then how do I explain the calls and the messages? Terry made no secret that it would be hard for me to gain any size…but Kevin said over the phone that Rhys was a natural. Maybe that’s just what guys tell each other in the gym to get them motivated. There wasn’t much of a difference between gym talk and sex talk when it came down to it. But what about all his friends getting bigger? Well, they were bodybuilders. That’s what bodybuilders do: they get bigger. My brother’s no bodybuilder. Right? Hell, even that Facebook post didn’t mean anything in particular. Dr. Fitz might be one of their instructors. Maybe he was doing particularly well in the class.

Maybe the whole scenario was just my overactive imagination…but there was one thing I couldn’t shake. We were twins. I know it sounds silly, but we have a connection. We can’t read each other’s thoughts or anything but there have been times we knew the other was especially sad or happy or whatever. The fact I couldn’t shake this feeling fueled my thoughts that he really was undergoing some strange transformation.

Four hours until I find out, I thought, surprised at how much ground I was covering.

So what if he had gone through some sci-fi metamorphosis. Is that all bad? Maybe I could take part too. I’d tried so hard to put on size but each pound gained was like moving the earth. It would be great if Rhys was part of some breakthrough if only because I might be able to take part too.

The hardest part was the not knowing. Why was he being so secretive? We told each other everything. Had things changed so much…for no apparent reason?

Maybe there’s nothing to report, a voice whispered in my ear. I paused for a moment. Come to think of it, I hadn’t ever asked him for any specifics. I’d ask how his workouts were going, hoping he would give me every detail. Instead he gave me an answer just as generic as the question. It was as if he thought the question as inconsequential as ‘how’s the weather?’ I hadn’t told him about the weight I’d gained.

The mile markers raced by and my thoughts rarely strayed from my brother. The sun made its way towards the horizon and was just touching the horizon when I finally got off the interstate exit that would send me home. By that time my brain was exhausted.

Fifteen minutes later, I turned into the driveway of my parent’s house. Rhys’s car was already parked and there was no sign of my parents. The sun had just set and the sky was ablaze in oranges and blues. I practically leaped from my car and headed for the front door. Finding it unlocked, I opened it and entered a house darkened by the approaching night.

“Rhys,” I called. Creaks from the second story betrayed my brother’s location. They were followed by heavy footsteps that made their way across the room upstairs to the hallway door.

“Ryan,” my brother called from upstairs. “Be down in a minute.”

His voice sounded rushed, as if in the middle of something important. I decided a minute was too long. I made my way up the stairs and around the corner. A line of light escaped from beneath the door to my brother’s room. The creaks and footsteps originated from there. I crept to the door, tested it, and found the door to be unlocked.

I turned the knob and opened the door.

CHAPTER 4

I opened the door to Rhys’s bedroom. My brother was facing away from me, reaching to the upper shelves of his closet and fishing out winter clothes. He wore a grey, hooded sweatshirt and a pair of basketball shorts. Although it was hard to tell much with the sweatshirt on, he was hardly the gigantic three hundred pound monster I had prepared myself for. A quick rundown and he looked every bit the brother I left three months—

“Holy shit. Your calves!” I blurted involuntarily.

Rhys responded by dropping the box he was fumbling with and cursed under his breath as it rained on his head. He regained his composure quickly and turned his head to look at me. He wore a smile, but it was forced.

“Hey bro. I didn’t hear you come up here,” he said as he reached down to pick up a pair of sweatpants nearby and started putting them on.

I was up to him in a heartbeat and was able to get a better look at his legs before he was able to cover them up. His calves were covered in veins and stood out in bold relief even though unflexed. I pulled up Rhys’s shorts to reveal quads big enough to make most pant seams beg for mercy. His boxers were bunched up against his groin, their leg openings just not big enough to lie further down.

“I knew it,” I said breathlessly.

“I was going to tell you about this,” Rhys said. “But I didn’t know how exactly.”

“What do you mean you didn’t know how exactly?” I asked as I stood up. I wanted to say more but the verification of three month’s worth of paranoia was finally hitting home. I had to sit down and was lucky Rhys’s bed was nearby else I’d have to make do with the floor. It was one thing to suspect something like this was up…quite another to have be true.

“How much do you weigh, bro?” I asked.

“About 200,” he said immediately. “I—“

“Take off your shirt,” I said.

“What, I—“

“Take it off man. This shit is bat crazy and you owe me that much.” We both knew he didn’t owe me a damn thing, except maybe an explanation. But I had to know. Rhys seemed to understand, although as he took off his shirt he looked as if the act were against his better judgment.

Beneath that bulky top was an upper torso carved from a mountainside. Traps bulged and crawled halfway up his neck and were born out of shoulders bigger than both my fists combined. A thick vein pulsed across the front of his shredded delt. His arms were at least seventeen inches but looked much bigger. His pecs were striated even when relaxed and his abs were skin covered river rocks. It’s not like he was huge. It’s just that kind of definition had a way of making you look so much bigger. 200 wasn’t that crazy for someone at 6’1. I was breathless…he looked so much bigger than 200.

“What did he give you?” I asked, shock slowly giving way to a strange sense of excitement.

My brother’s eyes rose. “What did who give me? Kevin? Nothing—“

“Don’t play dumb with me, Rhys,” I said as coolly as I could. “Dr. Fitz.”

“Fitz?” Rhys asked, seemingly genuinely confused. “What does he have to do with…wait, how do you know about Dr. Fitz?”

I felt my face grow hot but I didn’t care. I told him everything. My interpretation of the voicemails, the Facebook pictures, Dr. Fitz’s bio and history, everything. When I finally stopped, I held my breath, waiting for my brother to kick the shit out of me. There was no doubt he could if he wanted to.

I looked at my brother, whose eyes were stern and face unreadable. There were three long seconds of complete silence.

Then a snort escaped his nose and he broke out laughing. It’s strange; the first thing I noticed was the way his abs flexed as he tried in vain to stop laughing. His pec bounced involuntarily too. God what I’d do to trade spaced with him now. I saw my dreams of some magic formula die away with my brother’s reaction. It was like thinking you won the lottery only to find out your numbers were for last week.

“You thought Dr. Fitz was giving us some kind of growth hormone?” Rhys said between fits of laughter. “And that I took it? Jesus, Ryan, do I look like I’d use steroids?”

Although my face was as red as a fire truck, I raised an eyebrow and nodded to his body. Rhys stopped laughing but the mirth remained in his eyes. He turned to a full length mirror on the wall and admired his body. He was obviously used to doing that.

“I’m a little hurt, Ryan,” my brother said as he gave the mirror a double bicep. Good lord, his back looked like it was boiling with muscle. “Why is it so hard to believe I did this through hard work?”

“Because I’ve been working my ass of trying to look like that and have a measly six pounds to show for it. You have fucking thirty! In a little under three months!”

Rhys’s eyes swelled with an emotion I couldn’t quite place. “I have the best trainer in the world,” he said somewhat defensively. “Kevin is a fucking beast. And we eat, lift, and sleep together.” He paused. “Well, not sleep together. I mean—“ His face turned red but I waved him off.

“Then why is Fitz in those pictures? Why does everyone growing like weeds?”

“Fitz is doing a study on muscular endurance or something. He’s taking data on our regimens and results but hasn’t given us anything.” I looked at him. “Ever, dude. Shit, the guy is completely harmless. And I think he’s got a little dementia or something. The old man can’t even find his pencil half the time. He has a nurse take care of him for Christ’s sake. We’ve taken him on as a sort of mascot at our gym. I hardly think he’s capable of sneaking growth drugs into our water bottles.” He paused. “Besides, only four of us are growing. The rest are pretty stagnant.”

The sentiment in his eyes had suddenly entered his voice. I looked at him, eyes narrowed. “What four?”

Rhys was suddenly struggling. “Well there’s me and Kevin. A guy names Ross and another named Daniel. They’re all—“ He stopped.

I stood up. “What’s going on, Rhys? What are you not telling me?” I felt that tickle in the back of my neck. He knew something. That hint of guilt in his voice. “Tell me, Rhys. You know as well as I that we can feel each other somehow. I’ve felt it all fucking semester and it’s been driving me crazy.” His jaw locked and I saw a stubborn look start to form on his face. I was now a few inches from him and suddenly realized something else. Something that would nail the whole thing home. Something he couldn’t explain as due tohard work. My heart was racing. “You’re fucking taller than me!”

The stubborn look dropped from his face like a brick and he looked in the mirror. Sure enough, my twin brother was a little over an inch taller than me. He’d always been taller by a hair for some reason but there was no natural explanation for an inch of growth in three months…especially if I didn’t mirror it. Identical genes had their advantages.

Rhys’s eyes were locked on the mirror. I had always been the dominant brother and I had to strike before he realized the natural order had changed. He didn’t know the power he held over me yet. “Rhys, I’m your brother. There’s no one who knows you better than I do. What is going on?” Rhys bit his lower lip. He was breaking. “Tell me!”

“There’s something going on in our dorm,” he said breathlessly.

“What’s going on in your dorm, Rhys?”

“I don’t know,” he said, eyes wide. Words now flew from his mouth like bats at sunset. “It’s like we’re all superhuman or something. Well not everyone, only the people that work out. Kevin and I are the most dramatic examples but we work out all the time and eat like gorillas. But there are other growers too. Cody is a nerd and a half; looks like Andy Dick’s eighteen year old clone. He started the semester bony but jogs all the time. His legs look unreal these days. They’re so shredded every inch of him from ass to ankle is striated as fuck. But his upper body is still a bony skeleton. Dirk, all he does are situps and pushups… the guy has a solid six pack, horseshow triceps, and pecs that belong on a bodybuilder. That’s it, back and legs look like normal. Both those guys have started working out more though. Both are starting to look really good. There’s a dozen others starting to do the same thing. Slowly but surely us nerds are getting bigger. Dude, the girl’s floor is even jacked. For the first time ever, the hottest chicks on campus are in the honors dorms. McKenzie is trying to stop working out because she was suddenly stronger than her boyfriend…and more ripped. I—“ He stopped, breathless after such an avalanche of admission. “Dude, nobody talks about it. It’s the elephant everyone’s ignoring. But people who live there know. No one says anything but one by one people are figuring out that if they workout they’ll get results a thousand times faster than normal. And once they work out; they’re hooked. People who never worked out before are suddenly becoming gym rats. It’s strange. It’s like…”

“It’s like what?” I asked, not wanting him to stop.

“It’s like we’re addicted to working out,” he said. I looked at him, confused. “No seriously. We’re addicted. It feels so fucking good. Every workout feels like an orgasm. I mean,” his face got red but he was in full disclosure mode. His voice dropped to a whisper even though no one else was there to hear. “I mean, I get a fucking hard on every time I even think about lifting weights. It’s like sex. Dude, it’s better than sex. I can’t explain it.”

I let his words wash over me. I involuntarily looked at his crotch. Even though obscured by his gym shorts, there was no hiding the pole that stretched towards his knee. Fuck, I thought. That grew too?

My brother noticed my eyes. “I know right?” he said breathlessly. “This thing is easily an inch longer than it used to be.” He changed the subject quickly. “I am no sooner five minutes out of the gym before I can’t wait to go back. And I can’t over train! It took weeks before Kevin and I realized we could work out every day.”

I took a deep breath. “So, what you’re telling me is that you’re living in some sort of muscle dorm? What’s causing it?”

Rhys’s face took on that hard look again. Shit, I thought. There goes anything else he was going to tell me.

“I don’t know and I don’t care,” my brother said. He swelled up like a peacock and stepped up to me. I suddenly felt very small. He was only a little wider than me but was covered in muscle the way I was covered in skin. As I said earlier, he wasn’t huge, just jacked. He could put on twenty pounds of fat and still be ripped. I knew by looking at him that every additional pound he gained would make a huge difference in size. He wouldn’t be able to hide behind sweatshirts for long. He managed to look down at me. “That’s why we keep everything quiet, bro. No one needs to be taking this away from us.” His eyes lit on fire. “Not even you.”

I cowered, suddenly unable to speak. The tables had inevitably turned. I was now the little brother. Scared or not, though, I was overflowing with excitement. I put my hands up defensively and pushed lightly against his chest to put some distance between us. Fuck, his body was as hard as a granite countertop.

“Take it easy, Rhys,” I said calmly. “I’m not telling anyone. I don’t want anyone to find out either.”

My brother visibly relaxed but his eyes narrowed. “What are you up to?”

I tried to smile. “You planning on going back to school on Friday for the football game on Saturday?”

Rhys nodded. “Mom’s not too happy about it but it’s one of the biggest games of the year.” He stopped. “Besides, I want to work out there. I just got home from the gym here in town not thirty minutes ago. It was a good workout but…nothing like on campus. Why?”

For being the smart one, it surprised me Rhys needed me to spell this out. “Because I’m coming with you. We’re going to find what’s creating this…muscle dorm. And we’re going to take it to the next level.”

CHAPTER 5

The drive back to Rhys’s campus felt far longer than the three hundred miles marked by the odometer. However, unlike the anxiety-ridden trip home two days earlier, this trip was cloaked in exuberant anticipation. Thanksgiving had its interesting moments but was as normal as could be expected.

Sweatpants and a baggy t-shirt did a remarkably good job masking Rhys’s newfound definition but one hug from mom spoiled the ruse. Her eyes grew large as they embraced.

“My, my,” she said with a smile. “Spending time in the gym after all aren’t we? It’s like your smuggling boulders in there.”

There was no such complement when she hugged me; not that I expected it. Other than a few comments here and there, no one made too much of a fuss. I was quite certain the main reason was to spare my feelings. Their eyes said they were curious, especially my dad’s. We made sure to avoid standing next to each other; the inch of extra height on my brother would open up a can of worms neither of us wanted to explore.

On Friday, much to my family’s dismay, the two of us got in our respective cars and made our way to his campus. My parents were under the impression I was making the early trip to check out a football game. The real reason, of course, was to discover the cause for my brother’s sudden superpower.

Rhys was surprisingly supportive. “Kevin compared me to a glass,” Rhys whispered Thursday night. We sat on the floor with our backs against my bed, both stuffed with food. We were both wearing only boxers which made our sudden differences all the more dramatic. “He said the thirty pounds I’ve gained so far have merely filled up the cup. My frame has absorbed it without really expanding too much.” Rhys paused, his hands fumbling around with the other. The activity made his chest muscles bounce and the striations of his shoulders dance. “He told me that cup’s full now, bro. I won’t be able to hide behind oversized t-shirts much longer. Every pound I gain from here on out is going to be completely evident.” He sighed but his eyes glistened. “And I can’t wait. We have GOT to get you on this train.”

I told him I couldn’t agree more. Just sitting next to him made my gut ache to be like that. I looked like a deflated version of him at this point. Hell, even his jaw line was harder and face more angular. “I hope we find something,” I whispered.

Fifteen minutes later, we were parked and making our way to Powers Hall or, as my brother and I had started calling it, the Muscle Dorm. It was a non-descript two story building nestled among three larger four story dormitories. The four buildings made a square and contained a pool and green in the middle.

“The building belonged to the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences until last year, when a fire swept through it. The administration constructed a new building on the other side of campus and intended to demolish this one. Apparently a booster (Mr. Powers I guess) was upset and spent a fortune refurbishing the damn thing. Since it was so close to the rest of the freshmen dorms, I guess it made sense to put the honors nerds in here.” Rhys chuckled as they walked up to the obvious 1960’s era building. “Pretty shitty building to spend millions of dollars on if you ask me.”

I remained silent as he swept a card against the reader on the wall and opened the door. The building, like the campus, was swarming with people. It wasn’t like standing in the pump room of a bodybuilding competition, but there weren’t too many out of shape people perusing the halls. The first floor was the girl’s floor and we made our way down the hall to the stairwell on the other side. “I want to introduce you to some people.”

The weather was cooling a bit and the coeds were dressed a little more conservatively than when I was last here in August. That said, midriffs often revealed hard ab lines and shorts showed off legs of a volleyball player more often than not. They weren’t shy about staring at me or my brother and many did so openly. More than a few were actually buff enough to look ready to kick my ass. My brother stopped in front of one such girl.

“Hey McKenzie,” he said to a tall girl with her blond hair pulled back into a ponytail.

“Hey stud,” she said with a dimpled smile. She was perhaps 5’10 and was built like a female gymnast. Considering most gymnasts barely broke five feet, she was packing quite a lot of mass. Her eyes turned to me. “This must be your brother.” Her eyes glistened. “I thought you said we wouldn’t be able to tell you apart,” she said.

Rhys laughed nervously and I forced a smile as well. “Chad still telling you to stop working out so much?” my brother asked in an effort to change the subject.

McKenzie snorted. “I broke up with that wuss last Tuesday,” she said, betraying no remorse. She eyed my brother playfully and ran a finger down his chest. “Apparently I need to find someone who can handle me.”

My brother looked used to these kinds of flirtations and smiled right back. “Well, maybe Ryan can take a shot first. If he’s impressed then I might consider it.”

McKenzie feigned insult and punched my brother in the arm. For good measure, she turned to me and did the same. THE SHIT HURT. It took all my concentration to act as if the attack didn’t faze me. She looked partially convinced.

“Hey, is Nadia here?” Rhys asked.

“Yeah, but she’s at the gym,” the girl with the wicked left hook answered. “Now there’s a girl who needs to stop working out.” McKenzie gave one more smile to my brother and me before excusing herself. “See you at the party after the game tomorrow,” she said as she entered the girl’s bathroom. It was apparently not a question.

“Dude,” my brother said. “If you want a wild ride tonight, she’s your ticket. She’s had a crush on me all year but I’ve got my sights set on her roommate. I figure my twin is a shoe in.”

I betrayed myself and began rubbing my bruised arm. Wild ride indeed. “I think her penis is bigger than mine,” I mumbled.

My brother scoffed. “Hmm, well you should see her roommate. She makes Lulu Jones look like Ben Stein.” He guided me into the stairwell to the second floor. “The girls have been showing a little gusto lately, I’ll give you that.”

“Gusto,” I responded dryly. “I couldn’t tell if they wanted to eat me or sleep with me.”

Rhys barked a laugh. “Probably both! Interesting how the tables have turned, huh? Girls deal with that kind of shit all the time…not sure why they complain about it, though.” His smile widened. “How’s your arm?”

“Feels like it was on the business end of batting practice.”

We topped the stairs and Rhys opened the door. Behind it was a hallway just as crowded as the one below. Tomorrow’s football game was a big deal and a good portion of the student body was in town to see it. It looked like the Muscle Dorm had one hundred percent accountability. Just like the floor below, the occupants represented a wide range of body types but taking them as a group made me feel small even though I was taller than most.

Shirts were apparently discouraged as well over half of the hall walked around in skins. It was an interesting study on psychology: the nerdier the face, the less likely a shirt was worn beneath it. It’s not like everyone was a bodybuilder, although there were some who looked well on their way, but the group made six-packs seem a standard anatomic attribute.

“What’s up, Rhys,” a voice said from the crowd. To our right stood a resident with sandy brown hair that had cowlicks in all the wrong places. His narrow face had deep-set brown eyes hanging below gnarled eyebrows. An oversized nose more than compensated for a chin that looked like it was in the process of being swallowed. Shirtless, his upper torso was lean and hard. Although his definition was primarily due to his lack of body fat, his body was muscular enough to be at complete odds with his face.

Without a shred of bashfulness, Cody obliged by raising up the hem of his gym shorts. Beneath them was a pair of legs that a bodybuilder would be proud to hit the stage with. His quads were covered in bumps and bulges that made each as big around as his waist. My jaw dropped.

“Not bad huh?” the geek said with a grin. He dropped the hem of his shorts and put his hands on his abs. “I figure it’s time to let my upper body catch up. I going to start going to the gym next week.”

Next week? My thoughts screamed. This fucker’s never been to a gym and he has legs like that?

My jaw didn’t shut until we were making our way further down the hall. “Fuck, Rhys. His legs were bigger than yours…and he’s half a hand shorter than you.”

“I know right?” my brother said as they got to the door to his room. “The guy runs like a man possessed.”

We both knew that running didn’t make legs like that but any reality check I was about to offer was stuffed when Rhys opened his door and we both saw Kevin unpacking an overnight bag. Shirtless of course, Kevin was built like a god. The body he wore now put the Kevin I met three months ago in perspective. Although impressive, he’d merely been one of those naturally short and muscular guys that parade around every high school in America. Now he was a genetic anomaly. His abs were a shredded wall of bricks half shadowed by his bulging pectorals. Shoulders bulged like striated cantaloupes over arms that were rippled and veined even when relaxed. The mere act of bending his arm made his bicep peak. His traps almost pushed his head forward and his back looked like a mountain range.

“Wassup, Rhys!” he said with genuine happiness. They hugged. “Ryan!” he said when the hug was over and walked over to me to give me one too. It was like being on the receiving end of an avalanche. “Long time no see buddy!”

“Yeah, Kevin. Dude you look great,” I couldn’t help but say.

Kevin’s smile grew wider. “I know. I feel incredible.” He slapped my shoulder. It didn’t hurt but it was probably because it was still numb. “We need to get you on the training train, buddy.”

I mumbled that I’d like that and we continued small talk for a while. My mind was focused on one thing right then, however. Kevin was no more than 5’8 last time we met. Now he stood an easy 5’10. And he looked bigger by proportion. He must have gained forty pounds in twelve weeks.

We went out for dinner but came back early to get to sleep. It was completely opposite what most of the campus was up to. Maybe it was because after all was said and done, this was the honors dorm…or maybe it was because they all wanted to wake up early and go to the gym the next day. Whatever the reason, most of the dorm was asleep by midnight.

The gym’s parking lot was almost empty early the next morning. Most of the student body on campus was still sleeping or hung-over from the night before. Kevin, wearing a “shirt” with arm holes that went all the way down to the waist, took a prime parking spot. I was sitting in the back seat and found myself mesmerized the whole drive by the way his lats, obliques, and abs danced with each other as he moved. It was a shame to get out of the car. The only word to describe Rhys and Kevin’s attitude was giddy. They looked like kids waiting for the ice cream truck to turn onto their street.

I felt no such magic and wondered if whatever was affecting them took time to sink in. Rhys wore a sleeveless shirt as well, but with a little more modesty. He was only showing off his bulging shoulders and ripped arms. I looked less his twin and more his little brother.

The bored attendant waved at Kevin and Rhys as we walked in, apparently familiar with them and disinterested in me. The gym itself was apparently a 150,000 square foot building with twenty thousand of them making up the weight room alone. The space more than absorbed the ten or so others working out at six am and made us feel like we owned the place. Most of the others were familiar faces from the second floor of the dorm.

We each went to a rack for warm up squats. I put the 45 pound bar on my back and started performing rapid squats just to get the blood pumping. The first squat sent a feathered tingle through my thighs that drifted up my spine like massaging fingers. The second rep sent a shot that was more intense. The third even more. After a few more reps, that tingle had turned into a jolt that rushed right into my soul. My heart beat quickened and my stomach started to pulse with excitement. My thighs and butt felt hotter with each contraction. The squeeze was incredible. It was like I was squeezing out pure power that flooded the rest of my body.

After about fifty warm-up reps, I forced myself to stop. Whatever workout Kevin and Rhys had in mind would have to wait. I wanted to feel more weight now. I put a forty five pound plate on each side and immediately started squatting again. The increased resistance only magnified that intense feeling.

What initially felt like the tingle that swept across your skin when someone massaged your neck now felt like a body-wide orgasm. My dick was swelled to full throttle and my legs pumped as if being inflated. I let out a scream as I forced one final rep and I nearly ejaculated as I put the bar back on the rack.

“Holy fucking shit,” I whispered through gasping pants.

I heard giggling behind me and turned. Kevin and Rhys were standing with their arms crossed and smirks on their face.

“I told ya, bro,” Rhys said through a shit-eating smile. “It’s like a drug.”

“I’ll say,” I said as I put an extra fifty pounds on the bar.

Kevin advised me to wait at least ninety seconds between sets. “It’s hard as shit to wait,” he said knowingly. “Your brain is telling you attack right away. But trust me; your body can still only do so much. You know how they say it’s all about mind over matter? Well, sometimes matter needs a say in the argument too.”

They left me alone after that, saying I could join in on their workout whenever I wanted. We all knew I was on independent ops for now, though. I had to explore this feeling. I started squatting my usual 185 lbs and the energy surge in my body swelled to new heights. I felt like I would explode if I didn’t jump up and down; it was a challenge to contain my efforts into a legitimate rep. My dick continued to throb as if an invisible succubus was having her way with it. I didn’t count how many reps I did but was a hair away from collapse before I had to re-rack. I choked down air and made an impulsive sprint to the hallway and its accompanying bathroom. My legs felt twice their normal size as I made my way into the restroom and to the first available stall. I dropped my pants and grabbed by dick. I was so close to eruption that it took less than five seconds to hit full orgasm and release what felt like a gallon into the awaiting toilet. I gave myself a breather, a little embarrassed at the feeling that I’d just had the best sex in my life. Then I cleaned up a bit and hit the weight room again.

Any thought that relieving that sexual energy would make things go more smoothly was soon squashed as, three sets later, I again needed to make another trip to the restroom. I can’t say I was complaining. I could have spent the rest of my life in that gym and it would have died a happy man. My legs felt incredible. They were hard as rocks and swollen to the point of breaking through my skin. I could actually feel my ass cheeks bounce with each step. It was exhilarating.

I moved on to chest once my legs felt ready to tear apart. It was actually an effort to walk. I put a forty-five on each side of the bar and began a warm up set. Although a little muted when compared to the rush with my legs, I again felt that rush of sexual energy pulse through my body like liquid fire. My pecs roared with each press of the bar. I put another fifty pounds on and started another set. After another trip to the bathroom, I hit a new personal best by benching 245 eight times.

After a few more sets I moved on to bicep curls. I wanted to make sure every muscle felt this energy.

Untold minutes later, I was working out my back and was on pull-up number twenty five. I jerked myself up for number twenty six. My lats and biceps were on fire and my dick felt like it was going to rip through my shorts. My heart raced as if I were sprinting for my life. The air itself seemed to crackle with energy. One more rep, I thought for the tenth time. I pulled myself up and the roar of euphoria made my brain boil. Then it happened.

I fucking came in my pants.

“Oh fuck,” I said as I dropped from the bar. Without thinking I raced to the bathroom and began a vain effort to clean up the inside of my boxers. Luckily, nothing bled through to the shorts so after disposing my soiled underwear in a trashcan, I left the bathroom swinging free as a bird.

I stopped short when I realized Kevin and Rhys stood right outside the bathroom, knowing smiles plastered on their face. I didn’t know what to say but my face must have filled them in on everything.

Rhys laughed. “That’s what you get for doing a full body workout,” he said as if I was supposed to know better. “We try to limit ourselves to one body part a day. It’s easier to…manage yourself that way.”

I sighed but inside my body still felt like the center of the sun. Maybe if I ran around the building a few times. I said as much but my brother put a calming hand on my shoulder. “What you need to do now is eat. Your body is probably torn to shreds right now.”

“I feel fine,” I said as we made our way out of the gym. “Besides, we were only in there for a half hour or something.”

Rhys and Kevin looked at each other and grinned. “Dude,” Kevin said. “It’s been two hours.”

I didn’t believe them until I looked at a passing clock and was shocked to see it to be true. Suddenly my stomach grumbled angrily and in a flash hunger consumed every recess of my senses. That raw energy was still there, though, pulsing like a second heart in the back of my brain.

I ate three full sized breakfasts at one of the campus cafeterias. Thank god it was buffet style.

“We must be eating over five thousand calories a day,” Rhys said between mouthfuls. “If it weren’t for these cafeterias we’d be broke by now. “Cheers to academic scholarships!” He and Kevin clinked the back of their forks as if toasting. My body still held the incredible pump from earlier. I prayed it would never go away. My body felt hard as a rock and able to tear down a mountain. Rhys and Kevin had apparently focused on arms today and it showed. Both looked like their arms were a solid two inches bigger. My brother’s usual ripped seventeen inchers were a ballooned nineteen. Although not as defined at the moment, there was a cable-like purple vein that ran like a drunken highway from top of shoulder and into the inside of his elbow. Kevin’s arms looked over twenty inches of boulder shaped muscle. Somehow they still held their original definition even with their gorged size. His shoulders were the size of cantaloupes. He looked wider than this morning; the sides of his chest were bulging from the hem of his joke of a shirt and his lats flared as if he wore a shield on his back.

“How is this happening?” I asked. They reacted as if I had thrown my drink in their face.

“Who cares, man?” Kevin said, face serious. “Why question it?”

I tried to scream that I couldn’t bring this magic home with me unless I could answer that question…but I remained silent. Their look reminded me of a mother wolf guarding her cubs. All kinship be damned, they would protect their baby. Maybe it was a drug.

The sun slowly climbed to its peak and the campus started to awaken and prepare itself for the Saturday religious rite known across the southern United States as college football. Cars made themselves at home on any surface flat enough to park. Open container laws were ignored and soon a buzzed haze settled over everyone eighteen to eighty. I joined in on the festivities haphazardly and breathed a sigh of relief when, at about four that afternoon, everyone filed down the street towards the game. Within minutes, the once packed campus felt like a ghost town save for the distant screams of a hundred thousand people roaring unison from the stadium.

Now was my chance. I’d been thinking about it all day, wondering where the source of all this...magic was. I had the whole story in my head. After a few pointed questions given to the locals, I’d discovered the building now functioning as the honors dorm was actually part of the science department before a fire swept through its guts. Someone must have been concocting a crazy experiment between those walls. That experiment probably even started the fire. Or maybe the experiment had been going on for years and the waste was disposed unethically within the building. That waste had accumulated somewhere in the building and the fire had released it from whatever container it was in. It had affected me in less than a day of occupancy. As far as I could tell, there were only two ways the building could have delivered such a dose: via the ventilation or the water supply.

Unfortunately, my overactive imagination was apparently much more skilled than my ability to plan. I had no idea where to start. I looked around the building at all the pipes going into it, wondering what would signify that something usual was coursing through its veins.

I climbed the stairs all the way to the roof and looked at the A/C units there. They looked like nothing more than fans to me; there definitely wasn’t any glowing goo. I shocked myself by kicking in an old door at the base of the stairs that appeared to be the access a basement. That really got my heart pumping. I imagined myself being the first person down there since the mysterious fire and finding black ooze seeping from the ground. One sniff of this ooze would shoot give me in one moment the size and strength it took my brother to acquire in three months. I’d take a fucking bath in the shit and emerge from the basement big enough to bend Kevin in half.

I’d already convinced myself that was exactly what would happen when I broke my way through the door. That increasingly familiar energetic exhilaration accompanying the physical exertion of breaking the door was crushed by the realization it only led to a closet full of cleaning supplies.

“Fuck,” I said aloud.

“Fuck is right,” said a voice behind me.

I turned to see a distinguished looking man dressed in a janitor’s onesie.

“Fuck,” I said again.

The man groaned and made his way down the stairs. He was an intimidating figure up close. Looking about forty, he was probably 6’3 and 240 pounds of beef. His sharp eyes looked ready to bore through me.

“I didn’t mean to,” I said nervously.

“Drunken assholes and their drunken shenanigans,” he said as he inspected the broken hinge where the padlock once hung.

I hadn’t had a drop all day but wasn’t about to tell him that. Before he had a chance to scold me or worse, I made a quick apology and raced away. The janitor didn’t follow. Fuck, this building was even turning the janitors into beasts. I spent the next three hours simultaneously trying to find this mysterious source of muscle juice and avoiding the linebacker-sized janitor. The latter effort was successful…the former was a complete failure.

When Rhys and Kevin came back from the game, they found me lying on Rhys bed staring blindly at the ceiling. “Dude, you missed a hell of a game,” Rhys said as he stripped his shirt off. I turned and stared at his shredded abs and bouncing pecs as he took off his pants and grabbed a towel. I groaned. My brother’s flaccid dick was bigger than mine when erect. A quick glance at Kevin proved a similar verdict. My god, the guy was huge in every way imaginable. “What’s wrong, bro?” Rhys asked as he grabbed his toiletries.

“Nothing,” I said stoically as my eyes returned to the ceiling. My brother’s willful ignorance of the reason I was here was starting to piss me off. There was nothing I could do about it though “I wanna get drunk tonight.”

Rhys smiled. “Done.”

An hour later and I was a six pack down and flying high. We were at a packed club across from campus. Kevin was off somewhere while my brother and I entertained McKenzie and her Amazonian roommate, Nadia. My brother was on her like a hound on a fox. Nadia was about six feet tall and was to me, a man with a hot face and breasts. She was completely jacked and had no qualms showing it. McKenzie had apparently “settled” for me and was making it no secret she was ready for me to take her home.

One hour and another few beers later, my brother and I were with our two coeds in their room. It was dark but the sounds of sex flooded the room as my brother and tried to outdo the other. Apparently the miracle drug smuggled through the ether of this dorm thought sex was a good exercise too. I felt my body swell, every muscle pumped like never before. Four hours and six condoms later, we finally said our goodbyes to the ladies on the first floor. Brotherly competition gave way to raw sex. McKenzie was stronger than me, there was no doubt I would be hurting tomorrow.

I passed out happy, but woke up knowing I’d be leaving without the answer I was searching for. We worked out again; this time I was more successful containing myself. By noon, I was back in my car being sent off by my jacked brother and his even more jacked roommate.

I watched them fade away in my rearview mirror and couldn’t help but wonder how massive Rhys would be when I saw him again.

CHAPTER 6

Life continued after my unsuccessful attempt to piece together the mystery at Powers Hall. The drive home that day saw my insane pump finally die off and be replaced with the worst body pain I’d ever experienced. It was pretty disheartening to feel my tight clothes loosen up. When I got home, however, I was excited to see I’d gained two pounds over the break. While that wasn’t too unusual considerring Thanksgiving has a habit of adding a few pounds to the average American waistline, the fact that I looked more defined than ever let me know just how effective those workouts had been. Even Monday’s workout was exceptional, if not nearly as sexually euphoric as the ones on my brother’s campus.

Terry was impressed as well and seemed to give my muscle dorm theory a little more credit. “So you find something out?” he asked intently after we finished Mondays workout.

I shook my head and told him he was right; I was just being paranoid. I didn’t tell him my brother was twenty five pounds and one inch bigger than me now. I figured it was best to keep the truth to myself for the time being. Although Terry had shown nothing but incredulity since I first brought the matter up, he was visibly disappointed that I had nothing to report. His words tried to keep up the solid front, though.

“What did I tell ya, man?” he asked, patting me on the back. “There’s no secret to success other than lifting, sleeping, and eating. In case you haven’t noticed, it’s working. You’re looking pretty good.”

I grinned a bit. I was now 178 lbs, still lean for 6’2 but better than August.

“Now if I could only get you to eat more, you’d be packing the weight on even faster,” Terry said.

I shrugged. “I feel like I’m eating all the time as it is. Besides, I don’t want to get…well…”

Terry grinned. “What? Fat like me?” I sighed and nodded. Terry was a cut muscle monster when I first started working out with him. Bulking for the time being, he was easily gaining as much weight per week as my brother. The difference was that half of Terry’s weight gain was in fat and my brother’s was all muscle.

Terry shrugged back, unhurt. “Hey man, welcome to the lifestyle of a bodybuilder. By the time I cut down next spring, I’ll have another fifteen pounds of muscle on my frame.”

Although too vain to truly bulk, Terry said that I’d make steady gains anyway just because I was a beginner. Regardless, I started the last three weeks of the semester eager to see what long term affects those two nights in the muscle dorm had given me. Unfortunately, by Wednesday, any residual euphoric effects were gone. My ability to train every day disappeared too; by Thursday I had to cut back to every other day to avoid overtraining.

I didn’t receive any butt dials during those final weeks of the fall semester but I DID find out why Rhys’s Facebook page was never updated. “Dude, no one uses Facebook anymore,” he said after I casually asked about it. “It’s all about Instagram and Twitter now.”

I rolled my eyes. Five minutes on Instagram and I saw my brother’s transformation in full chronological resolution. He had dozens of pictures spanning all the way back to the beginning of the semester. The first few showed off the brother I knew from the summer: Skinny arms, narrow shoulders, model face. However, from drunken shots at a bar to days at the pool to pickup games of football I watched as, picture-by-picture, my brother’s shoulders grew wider, arms grew harder, and body grew larger. At week two, a vein was visibly crawling down his arm. Week four, his shirts were all too tight. Week five, I could see his traps pulling at his collar. Week seven, he was obviously taller. By the last picture, he was the ripped stud I’d met over Thanksgiving.

A little math proved my brother was gaining about 2.5 pounds per week. Would he continue to grow at the same rate? Kevin was adding well over 3. My breath shuddered at the thought of him getting any bigger. There wasn’t much more room on his frame. I chuckled. No problem. He apparently can just make his frame bigger. If there was one thing I had on Kevin, it was an extra six..shit…four inches of height. That margin was obviously shrinking. Kevin’s genetics called for a naturally short yet wide, muscular frame. It was rare indeed for those proportions to reach the six foot mark…and yet it was almost as if he were growing wider faster than he was growing taller. Whew…what a lucky ass.

I wasn’t daunted; I was still hitting the gym as hard as I could and eating so much I was starting to feel guilty of gluttony. In the three final weeks of the semester, I gained five pounds…although I admit I lost some of that definition I’d gained those magical two days in my brother’s dorm.

I had sporadic calls with my brother. They weren’t so cryptic now that his secret was out. I also tried (with only partial success) to be a little more cordial. It’s not like there was anything he could do for me. That said, I couldn’t help but ask about how life was going in the muscle dorm. As long as I didn’t start trying to question the cause, he was more than willing to discuss it. A couple of days before finals week ended, we were talking about winter break plans when I asked him.

“Dude, I benched four hundred pounds for reps yesterday,” he said, excitedly. There was no doubt his voice was deeper than mine now. “And Kevin weighs 240 now. Can you believe it? Fifty five pounds in four months!”

“What are you weighing these days?” I asked.

He paused, feeling where I was taking this conversation. “210,” he said finally.

Can you believe it? I thought sarcastically. Forty pounds in four months! “You any taller?” I asked bluntly.

Another pause. “I think so,” he said briskly. “But not by much. We can still get away with it.”

You can still get away with it, I thought with a gallon of grit. I had nothing to get away with. “For how long, Rhys?” I asked simply.

“I don’t care anymore, Rhys,” he returned just as simply. “Whatever happens, happens.” My head physically pulled away from the phone as if bitten by it. Neither of us spoke while the air cleared, but my brother finally broke the silence. “Look Ryan. Believe me, I wish you could experience this too. I just don’t know how that can happen and I can’t act like I feel guilty about this…I wish you could be happy for me.”

I thought for a moment and for the first time stepped out of my own jealousy. Truth was…”I am happy for you, bro,” I said finally. “I really am. I just wish I was there with ya.”

“I know. Me too,” he said truthfully. Then he lowered his voice as if telling a secret. “I’ve been searching, you know. For something that’s causing this.”

My interest peaked. “Really? And?”

His voice became dejected. “I haven’t found shit,” he said bluntly. “It’s getting kind of strange, bro. People around campus are starting to talk. At first it was just a few of us working out, but now pretty much everyone who lives in this dorm is in the gym every day. All the geeks are starting to look like little Schwarzeneggers. Someone apparently shacked up here for a night or two and realized their workouts were insane the next day. People are still putting two and two together but rumors are starting to fly around. Dudes are trying to hook up with girls downstairs just so they can see what the buzz is all about. Thank god the chicks down there are wise to it. Most are only dating guys on this floor anyway. We’re the only ones that can keep up with their sex drive. You know as well as I that there can be some…side effects. Ryan, this girl at a club last night came up to Kevin and me and asked me straight up what was going on at Powers Hall. We lied and said we didn’t even live there. She said the only people who looked like us came from there. We can only deflect so many times. Eventually it’s going to come to a head and the wrong people are going to start asking questions.”

“Well at least you know you didn’t actually do anything. What’s the worst that can happen?” I was answered by silence, as if Rhys had a dozen scenarios in his head that could detail exactly how bad it could be. “Well,” I continued sarcastically. “You could always stop working out.”

Rhys laughed at the comment we both knew was hilarious. “Fat chance,” he said, voice filled with a little more mirth. “Hey, I’ll see ya in a couple days. I’ll keep looking,” he said. “I promise.”

“Thanks bro,” I said in reply.

Two days later, I saw exactly what those extra ten pounds looked like. Apparently it was enough weight to take my brother from fit to jacked in three weeks. The good thing was that 6’3 210 was still somewhat normal sized. It wasn’t until he took his shirt off that you saw the freak he’d become. Kevin’s earlier warning was right though; Rhys was definitely starting to fill out. Fortunately, the winter coolness allowed for some pretty thick garments to hide under…but the new Rhys wasn’t all that keen to hide behind anything. As we hung out with friends from high school, the conversation always meandered to Rhys newfound body. He was constantly taking off his jacket and flashing a few gun shots. His softball sized biceps made mine look like wet noodles. The two of us had always been popular solely because of our face, now my brother brought an even more impressive body to the table and it shot him to celebrity status. The twelve pound I’d gained weren’t even noticed.

Rhys additional poundage didn’t raise my parents’ eyebrows much, but my brother and I still made sure to avoid standing too close to each other. It may have been a needless paranoia but Rhys wasn’t ready for parental concern. I’ll admit part of me wanted to make our new differences as obvious as possible, just to vindictively put my brother in a corner. Truth was, my brother never lorded anything over me and if anyone was souring our relationship, it was me. If I took this experience away from him, he’d never forgive me. I did ask him how long he expected to keep up this charade.

“I’m heading to the Bahamas for Spring Break and the Powers Hall is only available to freshmen. When mom and dad see me this summer, what can they do at that point?” Rhys voice dripped with inevitability. He knew he wouldn’t be able to explain the beast he would become by May to our parents. But what was done would be done by then, right?

I could only shrug. If I had just one more weekend to investigate that dorm...Maybe there was something in the paint? The thought of licking the walls made me laugh a little. I knew it wasn’t beneath me though.

Winter break came and went, and not a moment too soon for my brother. We went to the gym together while he was in town and although he completely dominated any of my lifts, he acted as if he were sleepwalking through them. “It’s not like I’m lifting any less than I was on campus. It just doesn’t feel as good. My body feels…normal. I barely feel pumped.”

“Welcome to the real world, bro,” I said without sympathy. I managed to score a small victory during the break when I gained three pounds to his zero. His 210 versus my 185 notwithstanding, I was the winner on a neutral playing field. Too bad the playing field was in no way neutral in the long run.

Come January, my brother and I parted ways for the third time: he to a real world of make-believe and me to the real world of…reality. It took months but I was finally getting used to being the twin needing to catch up. Bodybuilding is a hard lifestyle but I did the best I could to live it. My brother’s Instagram account proved to be a very real motivational tool.

As January pushed into February and on into March, I watched my brother swell from a jacked and lean to a true bodybuilder and giant among men. It sounds vain to say, technically being his identical twin, but Rhys was probably the best looking specimen of humanity I’d ever seen. Even when he took pictures with his muscle buddies he was starting to stand out. Kevin was growing too. His boyish face never faded as his body became one of a professional bodybuilder.

In the ten weeks between winter break and spring break, I gained another ten pounds and was now at 190. I was finally able to call myself somewhat muscular. My six pack had practically disappeared but you couldn’t tell what my abs looked like with a shirt on.

“Four fifty, bro,” Rhys said about his bench press in late February. “For eight reps! That’s the fucking shit. Dude, I crushed a pencil between my pecs just by flexing ‘em. I want to find a shelled pecan and see if I can crush it. Could you see me doing that for a girl on the beach? ‘Here, let me help you with that.’ Crrrunch! Ah, that would be fucking epic.”

Good luck finding a girl eating shelled pecans on the beach, I wanted to say. “Yean, epic,” I said instead.

“I’ll say,” he said. “Anyway, spring break is in two weeks so I want to get as huge as I can before we head out to Nassau. Are you sure you don’t want to come? We’d love to have you there.”

“I’ll think about it,” I said honestly. I did want to hang out with my brother but wasn’t all that excited to share a beach with him for a whole week…especially if I had to sit through him trying to break things between his tits.

“Yeah, well I’m 230 now. I’m hoping to get up to 235 by spring break. Being this tall sure has a way of swallowing up muscle. Besides, standing next to Kevin makes me look like a fucking wimp. He’s planning to enter an NPC competition this summer.”

“Is that a fact,” I said. I don’t know why I was surprised but my jaw dropped at hearing 230.

My brother was starting to get the hint. “K, well, I’ll talk to ya later buddy. Let me know what you decide about spring break.”

“No problem,” I said.

A few minutes later, I found myself looking at a recently added forth team picture of the “Fitz Mafia.” This one was similar to the first two: two rows of people with the wheelchair bound Fitz in the center. Kevin held his usual spot just behind the elderly man, shirtless as always. His form was incredible. I scrolled between it and the earlier pictures, amazed at Kevin’s unnatural transformation. He had to be over six feet and 270 pounds of shredded, vascular muscle. Whatever competition he planned to enter that summer he’d win hands down. Shit, by summer he could win the Olympia. My brother wasn’t far behind. He was turning into a giant himself. He stood in the back row, as usual, but was now tall enough…and wide enough…to stand head and shoulders above the heads in front. He’d been spending time at the pool: his skin was a golden bronze. His neck was every bit as wide as his head and spread out into two bulging lats which landed into the striated explosion that were his shoulders. The two people in front of him obscured the rest of his torso, but there was no doubt they were hiding a behemoth behind them. A few of the others in the group were showing off impressive gains as well. The rest looked pretty close to their size in the other three pictures. Maybe Dr. Benjamin Fitz really didn’t have anything to do with this…else wouldn’t everyone in the picture be the size of my brother and his dorm friends?

Still, I couldn’t quite shake the feeling I was missing something. On a whim I pulled up the partial abstract for the paper Fitz had co-authored about the muscle degeneration therapy. I hadn’t thought about it since I first discovered it last fall. Reading it again reminded me why I was so sure the old man knew something.

“A Study of the Effects of Gene ACTN3 Infusion on Laboratory Mice.”A study by Dr. Benjamin Fitz and a Richard Powers, PhD5 September 2005

This study is a follow-up to the “mighty mice” experiment conducted at John Hopkins University in 1997. In order to be a suitable treatment for degenerative diseases such as muscular dystrophy, human myostatin suppression therapy must be accompanied by an associated cell wall booster which protects skeletal muscle membrane during extreme hypertrophy. The negative effects associated with such a breakdown can be shown in the now famous Hayden Smith case. What follows is a comprehensive examination of the gene ACTN3 and its associated affects on laboratory specimens. Where most myostatin suppressed mice experience severe structural degeneration accompanied by the increase in muscle volume, the ACTN3 mice showed none of these adverse affects. In fact, cardiovascular health and pulmonary activity was seen to improve…

I must have read that shitty partial paragraph a dozen times before leaning back in my chair, frustrated and tired. It was too much to be a coincidence. Dr Fitz and his asshole co-author Dr Powers must up to something.

A thunderclap went off in my head. Dr Powers…Powers Hall…another coincidence? My gut started to tingle. Maybe Dr. Fitz was a goofy old man but was this Dr Richard Powers?

By now I was an expert internet stalker. A Google search revealed too many “Richard Powers” to count. Even adding the honorific “PhD” or “Doctor” didn’t narrow the group down to a manageable level. I had to get more creative. Keywords like my brother’s university, the state, even the title of the paper did nothing. Finally, I looked at the university website on the off chance there was an article about the dedication of the new dorm.

I finally struck gold. Turns out there was a whole profile dedicated to each building on campus. There in clear letters was the profile for the Richard G. Powers Honors Dormitory. The first name was a match. There had to be a connection. Two clicks later, I was staring at a short blurb about the dedication from July of last year. The words pretty much confirmed what the students had told me: Dr. Richard Powers, alumnus, booster, and business man, performs the ceremonial ribbon cutting with Dr Channing Ross, Dean of Student Life. The photograph was grainy but there was something familiar about the broad-shouldered graying man with the oversized scissors.

I refined my search and finally ended up with a picture of the mysterious scientist from the university’s booster association. He was a youngish middle aged man with hard eyes and a distinguished face. I couldn’t place him but couldn’t stop feeling I’d seen him somewhere before. I spent another hour searching but by all accounts this alumnus, booster, and business man didn’t exist beyond a few pictures. But I knew that damn face. I searched every recess of my conscious mind but, like that word at the tip of your tongue, recognition seemed to squirm further from my grasp with each attempt to grab it.

I went to bed that night excited but anxious. I felt so close to a breakthrough but had nothing to prove that I was any closer than I was four months earlier.

Sleep took its sweet time gracing me with its presence and, even then, my dreams were just as restless. I saw myself walking down a sandy Bahamian beach during spring break, looking better than I had ever in my life. Everyone stared at me as my lean but taut body glistened in the afternoon sun. Suddenly, everyone’s eyes shifted and I could feel their attention on me melt away. A shadow drifted over my form and I turned to see my brother, nearly seven feet tall and hundreds of pounds heavier, sauntering down the beach. I suddenly wasn’t even there…literally. My brother didn’t even see me because I was too small. I had to scurry out of the way to keep from getting bulldozed over. He walked by without a second thought and carried the public’s eyes in his wake.

The dream flashed and I was walking through the second floor hallway of the honor’s dorm. The guys were all shirtless and the girls wore little more than bras and panties. I was the shortest guy there and easily the skinniest. Guys who would have thanked the stars to hang out with the likes of me six months ago now looked at me as if thinking about throwing me out. Bookworms from the neck up were all jocks from the neck down. The women were all at least 5’10” and wore super model faces and fitness model bodies. I didn’t see Kevin or my brother but the other faces were all familiar and sitting atop forms much harder and heavier than back in November. I strolled through this alternate universe, feeling smaller and smaller in a world where everyone was a giant, even the fucking—

--My eyes shot open and I sat up in bed as if hit with a bolt of electricity. The sharp edges of those dreams immediately began to smudge, but one image remained razor sharp. It was of Dr. Powers, broad shouldered, distinguished, and looking every bit important alumnus, scientist, and businessman. I knew the face but the man I’d seen it on had been none of those things.

Three months earlier, I left my brother’s campus a failure. I’d searched every nook and cranny of that two story dormitory and left no stone unturned. I didn’t let even a locked door stand in my way. Yet my search had been halted in a way I didn’t even recognize at the time. After exhausting every other possibility, at a time I was so sure success was just beyond a locked door, I was foiled by a man with a face that didn’t belong on the uniform of a serviceman.

Dr. Powers was the fucking janitor and he was changing my brother.

CHAPTER 7

“Really?” my brother asked, his voice wary. “Are you sure that’s what you want to do?”

“I’m positive,” I replied. “And there’s no risk for you. All I need is your student ID.”

“I know,” Rhys said. “It’s just…I mean, are you sure you don’t want to go to the Bahamas with us? The tickets are super cheap.”

“This is what I want to do,” I said with avid conviction.

“Well,” he said. “If that’s what you want. I guess I can understand why you’d spend spring break here. No small part of me wants to skip the beach and just hit the gym all week. But, ya know, sometimes you just need a life.” He paused. “Fine. We’re leaving at four on Friday. Can you get here earlier than that?”

The phone went dead and I practically leaped for joy. For one whole week I’d have the entire gym, the entire campus, and the entire muscle dorm to myself. I’d find the masquerading scientist and see exactly what he was up to. It would be the best spring break ever…at least, that’s what my internal cheerleader was telling me.

That voice had gotten my hopes up before and its inaccuracies had given rise to an internal curmudgeon that now warned against such idealistic expectations. It didn’t matter. At worst, I’d have a week of the best workouts in my life. If I could gain a few pounds and get my six pack back I’d be more than satisfied. I’d gained another five pounds in the weeks since Christmas, putting me at 190. I was proud of gaining twenty pounds in seven months, even if some of it was fat. But my brother had gained over sixty in the same amount of time. I couldn’t wait to get started.

I was tempted to get in my car right then and arrive a day early but I decided to wait. I would later regret that decision since I couldn’t concentrate on anything Friday. The second my class ended, I hit the road. By mid-afternoon, I was calling my brother to let me up to his room.

I hardly recognized the man that opened the door to the second floor bedroom. Rhys was wearing a white and green sleeveless shirt that vibrantly contrasted his tanned skin. His 6’4+ frame wore its 240 pounds of cut beef like Roman armor. He smiled, having to look down at me but trying not to make it obvious.

“Long time, no see, bro,” he said and gave me a hug that felt like a controlled avalanche. Kevin stood just behind him and made Rhys look somewhat skinny by comparison. He and I were eye-to-eye now but he was half again as wide. I’d never seen a body like his, anywhere. He somehow held the size of a Mr. Olympia without looking bloated or swollen. It was hard not to stare. Two women were also in the room. I recognized Nadia from Thanksgiving. About six feet tall, her form was somewhere between fitness model and bodybuilder. The other girl was presumably Kevin’s interest, a surprisingly petite girl considering the mountain of a man she had to deal with. The pleasantries were quick as they had a few hundred miles to drive before nightfall.

“Here’s my student ID. That’ll get you into the gym and has a meal plan account at any of the cafeterias,” My brother handed two cards to me. “The other card will to get into the dorm.” I took both greedily. “By the way,” he added. “McKenzie is staying in town to work on a project or something. I’m sure she’d like some company.”

I grinned politely. Her roommate, Nadia, had a face that screamed I wasn’t enough of a man for her more-than-hot roommate.

“Have a great week, buddy,” Kevin bellowed with a newly wrought baritone yet with that same boyish grin. He gave me a pat on the back as he and my brother left me alone in their magical dorm.

My stomach leapt as I pulled my gym gear out of my bag. Best case scenario, I’d find the mystical spring I was looking for. Worst case, I’d be able to have ten or so of the best workouts in my life. Two days over Thanksgiving had resulted in ten pounds. Could ten days give me ten pounds? The thought of hitting 200 made giving up my spring break seem worth it.

Before I hit the gym I made my rounds through the dorm, trying to absorb whatever drug was hiding the building. I drank from the water fountains, washed my hands in the sinks, stood under A/C vents, and I even licked a wall…yeah, there’s a definite argument for OCD here but the stakes were high enough to let hygiene suffer a bit.

After feeling like I experienced most of the dorms amenities, I ran off to the gym. Fifteen minutes later I was already leaving it. It’s not that the workout was bad, but it held none of the vigor and energy I expected. The letdown was enough to make me quit. I went to the nearly empty cafeteria, smiled at the dimpled girl behind the register, and ate a perfectly mundane meal. Then I took a shower and found myself spending the first night in the dorm watching movies.

At around eight o’clock, I was trying to decide whether to go to bed or actually finish my workout. I chose the latter and was back in the weight room before 8:15, giving me forty-five minutes to work out before close.

The first dumbbell I picked up proved something was up. That familiar tingle skipped down my spine as I started a set of warm-up curls. The feeling grew with each rep and by the time I was done with the first set my body was on fire.

I smiled as I looked at my insanely pumped arms. This was going to be fun.

* * *

A little over an hour later I was back at the dorm, stomach full and body pumped. The gym closed at 9 pm and they had to almost force me out. I couldn’t stop feeling my arms, pumped bigger than I’d ever seen yet still hard as a rock. I’d spent more than a few minutes wondering why my first gym trip didn’t go so well. I ultimately assumed that whatever I was getting from this place must take a few hours to take effect. I was a little disappointed in myself for not being more scientific with my search. I was also well aware that an organized study might have taken my whole week here and had no guarantee of success. Regardless, I went to bed happy.

* * *

I awoke the next morning expecting my body to be drenched in pain. I slowly got out of bed, waiting for the debilitation to start clawing me with its steel fingers. But the pain never came. In fact, I felt great. I had a sudden urge to make some laps around the campus before breakfast.

I got into my gym shorts and dry-fit t-shirt and made my way out of the dorm room. As I turned to head for the stairs, my stomach fluttered at the site of a cleaning cart sitting in front of one of the floor’s two restrooms.

Dr. Powers?

I crept up to the cart and stuck my ear in the open doorway. I could hear shuffling out of site in the direction of the showers. Good, he was occupied. I kept an ear out for footsteps as I investigated the contents of the cart. A quick perusal revealed only the standard fares of a janitor’s profession: Windex, bleach, water demineralizers, sponges, gloves, brooms, mops. No vial of muscle juice. I’d never considered how difficult it was not knowing what you were looking for. I—

Footsteps. Shit.

I took a few galloping steps away from the cart before slowing to a normal walking speed. About ten paces behind me I heard shuffling in the cart behind me. There was an awkward pause in the commotion and I could feel eyes creeping across my back as I walked back to the dorm room. My heart raced as I used all my efforts to maintain a normal pace. Just as I rounded the corner to my brother’s room, I looked over my shoulder and saw the familiar broad shouldered man standing next to his cart, staring at me as I opened the door and entered the room. I shut the door behind me, and finally allowed myself to breath. I tried to tell myself that there was nothing unusual about a teenager walking down a dorm hall on a Friday morning. Sure, most of the students would be gone by now but this was the honors dorm. I probably had some robot to build or something. But…why was he staring at me like that?

I sat impatiently in my room for a little over an hour before mustering the courage to peak out the door. The cart was gone!

I made my way to the bathroom and walked inside. There was no smell of bleach in the air. The mirrors were speckled with water. The floors still somewhat scuffed. There was no indication anyone had been in here to clean. Dr. Powers was either the worst janitor in history or he had an ulterior motive for being in here. I made my way towards the showers, where I heard him working. As in the rest of the room, the area was in no way clean. The excitement in my gut grew as the puzzle pieces were fitting into place. Of all the things I did before my first workout the day before, taking a shower had not been one of them. But I’d taken one afterwards and the second workout had been amazing.

I was increasingly confident I’d found the source.

With a clarity I’d not felt in months, I gave the shower head a good smack. It changed angle a bit but there was also a faint rattling sound.

There was something in the shower head.

I held my breath in anxious anticipation as I reached up and slowly twisted the metal shower head off the water pipe. Once off, I looked into the top and saw a familiar looking brown pellet sitting inside.

I laughed to myself. “Water demineralizers, my ass,” I said as I upended the shower head and let the pellet fall into my hand. It was about the size and shape of the hotdog chunks you find in spaghettios. I smiled and reconnected the shower head. Ten minutes later I was sitting in my room with eight pellets, one for each of the shower heads on the men’s floor.

They looked and felt like little chunks of granite. I’d tried to flake a chunk off with my nail but had only succeeded in scratching the nail. I put one of the pellets in a liter sized bottle of water and tried to dissolve it by shaking the bottle for a good five minutes. It looked about the same size though. Opening the bottle let out a rush of air, as if I’d just opened up a carbonated beverage. Bubbles rose up from the liquid and coalesced on the plastic walls. The pellet may look the same, but something had carbonated my water.

I carefully emptied about half of the bottles contents onto a gym towel and let it soak in. Then I proceeded to rub the towel over every inch of my body. I didn’t feel anything. There wasn’t even a film on my skin to speak of. I started to wonder if I was making a big deal over what really was just a standard cleaning supply.

Well, I still wanted to go for a jog before my stomach demanded I eat. Leaving the half full bottle and its little pellet in the room, I made my way into the stair well. By the time I made it to the ground floor I knew something was up. My legs felt like they were on fire and were pumped as if done with a two hour workout. That raw sexual energy was buzzing in my core. This was different than the usual uber-workouts I was growing accustomed; the simple act of walking down stairs shouldn’t have had this much of an effect. With a grin that oozed confidence and power, I threw myself into a jog that felt more like a sprint. Within minutes, my lungs heaved and my heart beat like a bass drum but my legs demanded I not slow down. I felt them heat up and expand in defined bulges that only pushed me harder. I finished three miles in record time before my stomach called a halt to the whole thing. Raw energy couldn’t overcome dangerously low blood sugar.

I waddled into the cafeteria, my thighs bulging like tree trunks. Every step sent quivering jolts through my body. My legs demanded more. They wanted to push some real weight around. I spent an hour stuffing myself before I finally left, gut bloated like a balloon. I was happy to see that my recently hidden abdominal muscles were showing themselves again. My ballooned gut showed their faint etchings through my shirt.

I headed back to the room for a reapplication of the muscle concoction sitting on my brother’s nightstand. My legs were still pumped but felt fresh and ready for more. This gym day would be epic. It was hard to contain myself. When I got back to my brother’s room, I noticed that the seemingly insoluble pellet had actually dissolved a bit in the two hours I’d been gone. A muddy brown cloud rested at the bottom of the bottle. A quick shake dissolved most of it and revealed a tablet half its original size. I pulled off the cap and the water immediately bubbled over the rim and onto my hand. Without thinking, I lifted the bottle and tried to drink the run off as if it were an agitated bottle of champagne. The water tasted bitter and sent a tingle down my throat that immediately set my heart into double-time. I switched to catching the remaining runoff in my hand.

Once the contents of the bottle had settled, I proceeded to rub my drenched hands all over my body. The liquid, although thick to the point of being sticky, seemed to immediately soak into my skin and disappeared like rubbing alcohol. My brain responded as if injected with a shot of adrenaline. My breathing tried to quicken and I had to concentrate to form deep steady breaths. I looked back at the bottle with its lima bean sized pellet still sitting at the bottom. I took another sip of the concoction, allowing the sharp drink to fall into my stomach. Was that a good idea?

I tilted the bottle and sprinkled some of the contents on my shoulders and let its tingling drops fall down my chest and back. They felt like the caress of a lover’s fingers as they fell into the recently created crevices of my chest, back and abs. Rubbing it in resulted in a deep, pulsing warmth deep in my body’s core. It was intensely arousing and made thinking difficult. I took a few more sips before rubbing the liquid into my thighs. Already pumped, they started to flex involuntarily, each contraction sending a sexual jolt to my crotch that made me groan with pleasure. Actions became somewhat involuntary as something primeval took the driver’s seat. I continued to apply but my thoughts were only on the feeling. Lightning danced across my skin and tickled my senses. My hands kept moving and the level of that water bottle kept falling. I heard myself gasp in pleasure as I rubbed my crotch. Who was doing that? No matter. It felt so good. It felt so good…

“Weren’t you just here?” I was eating again. There was a ton of food in front of me but I made it disappear quickly. My body was so hot. I was on fire. The place was empty, as if just for me. I was in a car. I was in a parking lot. I was in a weight room. I stared at a dumbbell for a moment. I picked it up. I started moving it. My brain exploded as my body screamed in bliss so intense it almost hurt. I could feel my bicep contract. Pain and bliss. Over and over. Both increased with each rep. Images danced before me; one after another. My body moved on its own but knew what to do. It pulled and pushed, harder and harder and harder. I felt my body swell and the incredible feeling only grew sharper. The heat was always there. The rush was always there. The squeeze. That incredible squeeze that sent a dozen orgasms across the swelling expanse of my body. I felt my shirt grow tight. “Dude, wicked pump.” I don’t know what I said back to that voice. I was hungry.

I was sitting in front of food again. It tasted so good but didn’t seem to hit my stomach. I kept eating but couldn’t be satisfied. It was like a dream. More weights, more lifting. Movement was becoming increasingly difficult and easy at the same time. It didn’t matter. The squeeze was all that mattered. That strange force driving my body did so with incredible skill. My body hurt but with that pain rode the heavenly fire that burst like a volcano from every pore. I felt so strong, so invincible. The feeling was intensifying. I saw veins dance their way across my body. Where had those come from? “Oh god.” Who said that? Me?

I was eating again. There were others nearby. There were staring. I ignored them. They had nothing to do with the squeeze. I had to get back there. In the parking lot, people were staring. In the weight room, people were staring. I ignored them all. It had to bring that fire back.

The gym. The cafeteria. Back to the gym. Back to the cafeteria. The food. The squeeze. Body on fire. People staring. Hard to breath. Hard to…

* * *

I awoke to the blurred vision of newborn sunlight with a handful of cotton lodged between my ears. I turned my head and felt a small shock when I realized I wasn’t in my dorm room.

Don’t you remember? This is your brother’s place, a knowing voice whispered to my groggy senses.

My brain understood but hadn’t quite put together the significance of anything yet. Why was it so hard to breathe? I reached up to rub my head. Why was it so hard to move my arm? The haze of the world reminded me of a hangover, except without the headache. In fact, aside from a raw gnawing of a completely empty stomach, I felt great. Really great. I sat up, mind growing clearer yet still lodged in sleep.

I stood up and for some reason did it too fast, sending a wave of vertigo across my mind. I took a step and tripped on the front of my toe. I stumbled a few paces. It was as if my body was overreacting to my brain’s demands. As I caught myself against my brother’s nightstand I heard something rip. For one terrified moment, I thought I’d injured myself then I realized it was just my shirt.

My shirt?

I looked at the top of the dresser at a plastic water bottle, empty save for a lima bean sized pellet sitting at the bottom.

Partial memories crashed into my consciousness like an avalanche of fire. I drank the whole bottle, I thought in wonder. What happened after that? I looked down and was shocked to see my once normal fitting shirt was stretched across my torso like Under Armor. Bulges and ripples exploded from the body beneath the fabric to such an extreme I immediately thought I was hallucinating. That wasn’t my body. I reached up and put my hands on the eight hard discs that bulged from my stomach, relishing the way my arms stretched my sleeves. I flexed my right arm and the seam parted immediately, tearing the fabric all the way up to my shoulder. An arm carved from a mountainside bulged out and appeared to inhale as if broke from its shackles. My arms were huge. I flexed the other and burst out of that sleeve as well. I felt my pecs, each over two inches deep, and flexed them into two gigantic boulders.

It worked, I thought as that victorious excitement overcame the throbbing hunger in my stomach. I raced out of the door, down the hall, and into the bathroom. It was a clumsy adventure as my limbs didn’t move the way I was used to. Not only were they far stronger but appeared longer than the day before too. I finally made it to the bathroom and its full sized mirrors. The reflection staring back at me looked more like my brother than me. My grey workout shirt looked painted onto an anatomy chart. Every inch of me rippled and jumped with each movement. Traps bubbled from my gorged shoulders and pulled my collar tight and away from my neck. I could make out frayed tears along the collar’s edge. Muscles protruded from my back like a shield and a crab flex formed a tear from collar to hem along the back of the shirt. As with my arm, my back seemed to swell and stretch as the suffocating shirt was torn apart. I put my hands on my collar and pulled, ripping the shirt in half and pulling it off.

I filled my lungs and stretched a body that had lived in a cocoon since I passed out the day before. The image in the mirror was beyond my imagining. Seeing such a body on someone else was one thing, but owning it held an exhilaration I could not have imagined until now. I gave the mirror a quick show of my flexed seventeen inch arms before racing back to the room wearing only my gym shorts.

I immediately found my brother’s scale and my heart skipped a beat when 214 showed up on the screen. I’d gained 24 pounds in one day! Although part of me was upset I’d missed the sensation of growing into this godlike body, I knew my growing wasn’t close to being done. At this rate, I could be the size of my brother in another day. And it was only the second day of a ten day spring break.

There was a knock on the door. My heart skipped a beat as I tried to make myself as silent as possible. As far as the person on the other side of the door was concerned, I wasn’t here. Unfortunately, the knock came again, this time with a voice.

“I know you’re in there,” a familiar female said. She sounded like a wild cat hunting prey. My heart dropped as I saw the door knob turn. I’d forgotten to lock it. Admitting defeat, I rushed to pull a shirt over my head. It stretched tightly over my recently expanded torso but did a somewhat decent job of hiding my incredible definition. “Hello there, stud,” McKenzie said with a wry smile as she let herself in. “Rhys said you were going to keep me company this week,” she said and walked over to me.

“Did he now?” I said, smiling. She wore shorts and a tank tip that showed off her breasts and powerful legs. She nodded and patted my chest.

“I saw you yesterday. You didn’t look like you needed to be bothered.” Her eyes held a mischievous glow as she put her hands under my shirt and rubbed the front of my torso. “You’ve been working out it seems. Your brother having an effect on you?” She gave my chest a good squeeze before lowering her hand and reaching into my pants. I betrayed myself by gasping when she wrapped her hands around my dick. It responded instantly and began to grow hard. She smiled again. “You’ve got a little way to go before you catch up to your twin,” she said as she pushed me back by my dick and forced me back on the bed. “Still, you’re so damned cute.”

She ripped off my pants as I lay on the bed, legs dangling over the edge. She worked my dick with her hand and I watched in awe as it swelled well beyond its normal seven inches. She smiled at me, eyes impressed, and then wrapped her mouth around my nine inch member. I saw the muscles in her arms and shoulder move as she gave me the best blow job I’d ever had. I also couldn’t help but notice the way my legs bulged with power. I straightened them and curled my toes. My flexed quads swelled and pushed the intruder up a solid inch. She continued her work but couldn’t help but grab the muscular bulges of my huge thighs as if they were handles. We both moaned as I let go and she squeezed my legs with such fervor I could already feel the bruises forming.

Finished, she got up and walked away with a smile. “I’m busy tonight,” she said nonchalantly. “Maybe we can pick up where we left off tomorrow night.” She walked out as if I gave an answer she was satisfied with and closed the door behind her.

I smiled. By tomorrow night I’d be every bit the man my brother was…and then some.

CHAPTER 8

Rays of sunlight cut like blades through the gaps in the blinds and sent bars of light across my brother’s dorm room. Five minutes after McKenzie made her exit I was still laying on my brother’s bed, legs dangling over the side and naked from the waist down. I held an open hand above my upturned face, watching as the sunlight beamed across its skin. The chilled relaxation of post orgasm still caressed my brain as I marveled at the foreign object suspended above me. It was not my hand; it was far bigger than my hand. Muscle writhed in the depths of its palm and along the edges of its fingers. This was the hand of a natural-born jock. In my peripheral I could see the forearm it was attached to, sinewy and powerful in the early morning light. Below that, a bicep, relaxed yet prominently protruding against the rest of its arm and straining the cotton sleeve of the shirt that tried to confine it. A large purple vein wound its way along its crest. It didn’t look like my arm. It was too powerful, too beautiful. A stomach that was soft only a few days ago now housed cascading boulders. The ravines and valleys of my legs were alien yet exhilarating. My body pulsed with such power and strength I didn’t even know how to handle it. This was not by body.

Yet it was. Every pound of it.

I balled my fist and flexed my arm, sending the relaxed bicep into a shredded softball and forcing the shirtsleeve to creak as stitches groaned. The contraction shot an increasingly familiar jolt of energy across my body. My recently used dick sprang back to life. I smiled and rolled my head back. I’d always thought about how having a body like this would look but never realized the true joy came from how it felt. Every part of me felt so strong, so hard. I was raw energy in a skin sarcophagus and I needed release.

I wanted more.

I turned my head and looked at the bottle on the dresser. It sat innocently silent as it cradled its partially dissolved pellet on the bottom. I smiled. That bottle held enough power to make my current form appear diminutive.

I wasted no time. After grabbing the bottle and putting on my shorts, I strolled out of the room and towards the water fountains. I made it three steps before I saw an all too familiar car sitting in front of the bathroom door.

Oh shit.

My heart hit my throat and I skidded to a halt. I was about to turn around and dive back into my room when a rugged and lumpy man strolled out of the restroom with a brush in hand. That wasn’t Dr. Powers. I forced myself to breathe and continued towards the water fountain as if nothing was amiss. The janitor nodded at me as I passed and encouraged the curious idiot in me to take over.

“Hey, so who’s the other guy that does these floors?” I asked, hopefully sounding nonchalant.

The man lowered an eyebrow, forming deep folds atop his sun-stained nose. “Other guy?” He chuckled and shook his head. “Only me, man. I have this building Monday and Thursday. Got Broward Hall and Rollings to do still thanks to Loy being on vacation.” He sighed and looked at me with comically squinted eyes. “I was hoping I wouldn’t have anything to do this week. But some of you always stick around for some reason.” He shook his head again and pushed his cart towards the other bathroom.

I stared at the man for a moment as he walked away. Well that explains how Dr. Powers got away with not actually cleaning when he plants his little growth pills. It was somewhat ingenious when I thought about it. After all, who really notices a janitor? I grinned at the whole scenario and filled the bottle, watching its precious cargo dance in the rapids as water crashed over it. I capped it and started shaking it as I made my way back to the room. I felt the walls of the bottle grow firm as its internals pressurized.

Thirty minutes later, I was still in my brother’s room and had been shaking the stupid water bottle for every second of them. That damn lima bean was a bitch to dissolve but I think I’d finally finished the job. I couldn’t complain too much since all that shaking had given my arm a pretty amazing pump. The liquid inside now resembled used bath water…not the most desirable thing to slather over your body. But this murky liquid held as much of a punch as the dose I gave myself the day before. I’d have to be a little more controlled with my usage today; yesterday wasn’t a complete black out, but at best it was a distant memory.

I had depressurized the bottle every few minutes so opening it didn’t create a geyser this time. I poured a third of its contents over my naked body. Rubbing it into the newly minted bulges and ripples of my limbs and torso was a turn on in itself. Just for shits and giggles I drank a little of the mixture as well. I had no evidence drinking had any added effect but it didn’t seem to hurt me yesterday. I-

“Oh fuck,” I said out loud as the liquid immediately started to take effect. My dick was the first to recognize the juice and swelled to it’s now normal nine inches. Without thinking, I immediately got on the floor and started doing pushups. I don’t know how many I did, nor did I care. All I wanted was that exhilarating energy to consume me. I felt my chest start to expand and soon they began to squeeze against each other when fully contracted. Demanding more, I took one hand off the floor and kept pumping, switching arms every now and then. My triceps flared angrily and I could feel them swelling across the back of my arm like a hot liquid. The squeeze was incredible and every rep sent a new jolt through my body. I could feel my body come close to orgasm but commanded it to contain itself.

My muscles moved themselves as my free hand returned to the ground and my feet kicked forward, sending my legs high in the air. I held myself upright with my hands and head, doing a handstand for the first time in my life. I pushed with my hands and lifted my head off the ground, effectively doing an upside-down shoulder press. Sunlight poured through the window and emblazoned every iron contour of my body in contrasting light. The shear exhilaration at the site of me and the rush of the lift made me lose that delicate control and I came right there. I threw what seemed like a gallon on the floor around me as I continued to perform rep after rep. The balance required sent my stabilizer muscles into a frenzy and I felt muscles I didn’t even know I had start to grow. I could feel my abs tighten, each brick pressing against my skin as if trying to break free. After countless reps I fell to the ground, lungs gasping for air and body demanding more.

I smiled. Working out naked was incredible. I briefly considered taking an exhibitionists risk but decided to throw on my shorts before running to the bathroom for a quick body check. I looked twenty pounds heavier in the mirror. My chest and shoulders were gorged, completely out of proportion with the rest of my body. My pecs sent a shadow halfway down my shredded abs. My shoulders were on their way to becoming large cantaloupes and my triceps looked like they were trying to break free from my arm. Still, I was 6’2 and 217 pounds…I had a lot of room to grow and a shirt would still hide much of what I’d gained.

My stomach growled, angrily demanding the fuel my body so desperately craved. The eyes glaring at me from the mirror held a focus that would have frightened a stranger. That, combined with the wild grin, made me wonder how much control I really had over my body. “Here we go,” the reflection said.

It took tremendous willpower to avoid going right to the gym. The cashier at the cafeteria gave me a double take when I walked in. Recognition swept across her eyes but confusion kept her questions at bay. I ate enough food to embarrass an entire baseball team and a little sweet talking allowed me to leave with two to-go boxes full of chicken breasts and pasta. Finally, I made it to the gym. After putting my food reserves in the corner along with a tub of protein from my brother’s room, I hit the weights like a starving lion attacking its prey.

Now able to throw some real weight around, it wasn’t long before I started to lose control. Although much more cognizant than the day before, I could only watch as my body moved with a mind of its own. Shock danced across my mind as I picked up sixty pound dumbbells and started curling them as if they were warm-up weights. My arms filled my shirtsleeves within seconds and after a few sets I could see the striations of my shoulders through the fabric itself. Energy pulsed through my brain and that orgasmic sensation radiated out from my stomach and across my ever expanding form.

I put 270 pounds on a 45 pound bar and pressed it nearly a dozen times, sending my still swollen chest into orgasmic ecstasy. I made a relief trip to the bathroom, ate four chicken breasts, and was back at the weights in minutes. Before long, my body was so swollen my once loose shirt looked painted on.

My reflection held the same sinister smile and focused eye from the morning; only now it sat on a body that would make the most avid lifter stare in awe.

And I wasn’t done.

The morning flew by and I let my body drive itself. I focused instead on the raw power that continued to intensify as my body pressed against its vessel. It wasn’t until I realized I was out of protein and food that my body authorized a moment to gather my thoughts. At this point I realized that my right shirt sleeve had ripped halfway up the bulge of my deltoid and another had parted across my right lat. I tore off both sleeves as if they were made of paper. The effort tore the seam across the left lat. To avoid looking like a jackass, I simply took off the shirt entirely. It’s not like it was effectively hiding anything anyway. The half dozen or so others in the gym shifted from peripheral stares to outright gapes.

“Holy shit, dude,” a muscular student said as he walked up. “You have GOT to tell me what you’re doing to look like that.”

I looked at him curiously. He had a body that easily matched mine. What’s he want with—

Then I saw my reflection in one of the gym’s many mirrors and started gaping at me as well. I had to be nearing my brother’s size by now and every pound was shredded beef. I let a smirk crease my face as I turned to the admirer. “You wouldn’t believe me if I told you,” I said simply as I let my stomach take me out of the weight room.

I left the gym, ignoring the gaping awe of the attendant at the front desk. Any motivation to tell me to put on a shirt seemed to have skipped his mind. I left and made my way to my car. The sun felt amazing on my skin and sent goose bumps across the ever widening landscape of my body. I had always been blessed with completely flawless skin and it looked brilliant on a body that would have made the Olympic gods ask for workout tips.

The cafeteria was nearly empty but I turned what few heads there were. I was three plates into my lunch when I realized I hadn’t found a replacement shirt. I shrugged at the thought, not ignoring how my gargantuan traps bunched up against my neck. No one here should mind staring at my naked torso for a little while. Whether they did or not, no one verbally objected. I even noticed the manager peek his head around the corner. The look in his eyes told me he would rather stare at me than follow the hygienic rules issued by the university.

My body ached from four continuous hours of working out and each muscle felt torn to shreds. That feeling slowly subsided as I gorged on plate after plate of food. My body swelled with the fuel and stretched my skin as easily as it did my shirt.

I walked back to the dorm with my gut filled to my neck. What few people there were on campus each gave me a double take. I usually returned the attention with a bounce of my pec or a flex of the arm. After picking out one of my brother’s shirts and making a quick stop at the store for another jug of protein, I was back at the weights. The day blurred as I let the rush of fire blow over me. The intensity only grew as the day grew old and my control continued to slide. By dinner I had given up trying to maintain any semblance of control and let my thoughts drift off into my boiling brain. I don’t remember going to sleep that night.

The next morning began with same grogginess as the day before. An initial state of confusion. The strange feeling and clumsiness of taking up more space than usual. The rush of energy when I tested my new body. The erotic wonder of exploring myself in the shower. Finally, the pure exultation at the site of myself in the mirror as I dried off. On Thursday, I’d walked into this building a 6’2 190 pound twig. Now it was Monday and I was finally my brother’s equal at 6’4 and 240 pounds.I could stop here, I thought. My brother and I could be twins again. I smiled at my reflection in the mirror and my eyes flickered to the 2/3 full water bottle on the counter. Maybe it was time for me to move on, to show my brother what if felt like to be the little twin.

Before I could think it through, I was drenched in the last of the bottle’s contents. I stared at my reflection a moment longer, watching the droplets rain down my body. They seemed to shrink as they trailed down the grooves of my skin and not a drop made it to the ground. I could feel my skin drinking them in like sunlight. I was almost dry within a couple minutes.

“Hey Rhys,” a voice called from the bathroom door. “I didn’t expect you back until Thursday.”

My throat contracted and my stomach nose-dived into my groin. I turned to see a familiar face dressed only in a towel and a pair of shower shoes. He had red curly hair and the face of a software engineer. The last time I saw him he had the legs of a champion bodybuilder and the upper body of a lanky swimmer. It looked like his upper body had started to catch up. I could not for the life of me remember his name. He looked about 5’10 and a smidgen over 200 pounds.

I guess there was no use lying to him. “I’m Ryan,” I said finally as I grabbed the towel from the counter and wrapped it around my waist. “I’m hanging here for the week.” The last time he saw me, I was shy of 180. I saw the questions welling up in Poindexter’s head but knew he wouldn’t mutter a single one of them. Doing so would break the unspoken rule of ignoring the strange phenomenon going on at the muscle dorm. I could play this game too.

The fellow simply nodded. “Looking good, Ryan,” he said as he strolled by me.

“Same to you,” I said, suddenly distracted by the tingling rush which had begun to swell across my body. My dick had suddenly poked through the top of my towel and began travelling up along deep, granite groove which ran down the center of my abdominal muscles. I left the bathroom as the rush intensified and my dick continued up past my bellybutton.

A couple of other people were walking the halls, as if they tried to go home for the break but couldn’t voluntarily stay away from the power of this place for long. I got a “What’s up, Rhys” a couple of times as I made my way back to the room but I was too consumed with my own body to do much more than grunt a reply.

By the time I shut the door behind me, I was completely dry and ready to rub one out. It was amazing; even jacking off made my muscles swell like balloons. I got dressed in my brother’s clothes and picked up one of a half dozen tubs of proteins I just now realized I’d bought the day before. My parents might question all these purchases but it’s not like my brother was going to the Bahamas for free. I ate a breakfast of champions and hit the gym. From the moment I picked up that first weight, my brain returned to autopilot and the physical world suddenly lost all meaning…

My consciousness was filled with timeless sensations instead of chronological events. At no point could I tell you where I was or what I was doing. All I could tell you was how my body looked and felt. As the machine I wore around my boiling mind went through its mechanical grind I could only savor the feeling of my shirt growing tighter and tighter, seeing veins bulge and start spreading across the terrain of my body. I felt my muscles flexing over and over, each time getting a little bigger. My neck grew wide as my traps bubbled higher and higher. The striations my chest and bulging bricks of my abs were protruding as if my ever tightening shirt was being plastic formed to my body.

There was a rip.

An investigation showed that my brother’s shirt was splitting at the collar. Another look showed that my shorts were plastered on thighs the size of a normal man’s waist. I could only watch as my body swelled and pulled the shirt apart like wet paper. A torrent of power surged through me and I closed my mind’s eye to let myself drift away on its rapids. I felt my body grow ever larger and tighter and harder. My shoes were too tights, my shirt nearly suffocating, I had to break free. I had to…

The sun had long since checked out when my actions started to return to my control. I was tired to the point of collapse but a recent meal was still working its way into my bloodstream. I was a man made of molten iron. Dressed only in boxer shorts tight enough to leave nothing to the imagination, I left the dorm room and made my way to the first floor. I felt air brush against my body as I walked through it, letting me know just how much more space I took up now. Goose bumps rolled across my flawless granite chest and trickled down abs made of mortar bricks. My arms, hanging slightly outward against flared lats, bulged with over twenty two inches of raw muscle. Shoulders sitting somewhere between cantaloupe and pumpkin flared angrily as my arms moved. Thighs bigger than my waist bulged and writhed with each step. I didn’t need to see them to know; I could feel it. My footsteps thundered as I made my way down the stairs. How much did I weight npw? 270? 300? More? The world was noticeably smaller. Was I that much taller? It didn’t matter right now. I was hungry and it had nothing to do with food.

I knocked on a door and a moment later McKenzie opened it. Her standard coy smile and smug eyes turned into a gaping jaw and shocked stare as she took in the sight ofme. Her mouth worded Oh my god but her voice couldn’t muster a sound. I let myself in without saying a word. Her hands immediately flew to my waist and she explored my rippling obliques. Those hands felt so small now; so delicate. Those were two words not easily used for a girl nearing six feet tall with the strength to best most men.

She tried to take control, as she always had with me, but I didn’t let her. I ripped the clothes off her taught body and pulled her close; her full red lips parted in ecstasy and her vibrant brown hair fell from its clip and down her bare muscular back. Her hand pressed against my chest as I reached down and picked her up.

“How?” she finally managed to say.

I smiled and felt my wide neck flare out as my traps bulged under the negligible strain of her weight. That was the only answer she would receive. I rested her now naked form on the bed. She wore muscle in all the right places. Sturdy thighs, graceful abdominal lines, ample breasts, strong curvy arms. She had the body of a six foot tall fitness model. How had I once found skinny girls so attractive?

Her eyes dripped with lust as she surprised me by grabbing the flap of my boxer shorts and with a single motion ripped them from my body. A pulsing ten inch mass sprang up as I lay over her, the shadow of my gargantuan form engulfing hers. She wasted no time and forced me into her. I was a tight fit but she was a big girl. After a few warm-up thrusts, I was able to throw her senses into worlds she’d never known. I framed her shoulders with my hands and bent my arms at the elbow as I leaned down to kiss her. She grabbed the backs of my arms and squeezed with all her strength as I started to move inside of her. The boulders on the back of my arms didn’t dent a millimeter and her eyes grew all the more hungry.

Warmth spread from my crotch to the far corners of my body as we moved in rhythmic thirst. She moaned as her hands shook involuntarily and found new homes nested in the craggy folds of my mountainous back. I felt my chest swell and triceps flare as I continued to lean into her writhing body. My abs grew tighter and deeper as I sped up my efforts; her moans grew into shouts broken by gasps for breath. My body continued to swell and I felt my lats expand under her shaking grasp. She felt it too but that only made her grab hold tighter. Tighter and tighter, faster and faster, bigger and bigger. I grew inside of her too.

“Oh shit-loving fuck!” she gasped in sheer pleasure as she climaxed and came around me. She pulled herself up and pressed her body into my ever growing chest and abs. Her nails dug into me as I moved ever faster inside of her. I lifted one hand from the mattress and put it behind her upper back. I pulled her closer and my bicep exploded with the effort. One of her hands grabbed my neck, not even making it around half of it as she pressed herself closer and rocked against my dick. Her head flung back and she roared as I came inside of her for nearly a minute. She called to god as I smiled above her contorting body. We were both now covered in sweat which made our iron bodies slide against each other like wet bars of soap. A spasm tremored its way through her body as she came again. Her body grew harder and more defined as she wrapped her legs around my midsection. My semen was apparently having an effect on her size. I stood up, her arms wrapped around my shoulders and legs snaked around my waist. I was still as hard as a baseball bat when I landed her against the wall and let her gyrate against me. She had over ten inches of dick to explore and she was making every effort to discover every piece of it. I continued to swell, forcing her to adjust more than once. The wall behind her creaked beneath our combined strength and a crack made its way to the ceiling. Her eyes grew hungrier as she felt my body grow under her hands and inside the intimate recess of her body. Each of my muscles felt as if it were flexed and pumped as they squeezed raw, throbbing power out of my pores. I gasped as much at that sensation as I did the steam engine grinding against my dick. She was growing stronger too; her arms and legs were digging into my body but it only made me stronger. Veins sprouted across my shoulder, chest, and arms as I pumped her. With one final vocal explosion, McKenzie and I came and her legs fell from their mantle. I moved my arms under her ass and kept her motion going as if she were dumbbells. My arms swelled all the more and she instinctively grabbed them while her head leaned back. She pressed her breast against my neck. She arched her back sharply and shook as if hit with a sudden seizure. I stabilized us both by freeing a hand and pressing it against the wall. The room shook with the contact and another crack stretched across the wall. Her screams could be heard across the street as she pushed against my traps and slid down my dick in one final thrust before she finally collapsed in my arms.

Gasping, I pulled her away from the shattered wall, supporting her with only two hands and an insatiably hungry dick. I slid her off the latter, having to raise her up nearly a foot to do so. My arms appeared to have swelled to about 24” of pure, vascular muscle and had a strength that far exceeded that size. I laid her on her bed, taught body drenched in sweat and chest rising and falling rapidly.

“I’ve never...” she started between breaths. Her lips were parted and held a delicate smile. She reached up and rested her fingers on one of the horizontal ravines of my abs. Her eyes held the hunger of wanting more mixed with the disappointment of knowing her body was spent. “Your brother won’t believe what he comes home to,” she whispered as her eyes slid down my glistening body.

I smiled and turned to leave but was stopped by a string hand wrapping itself around my dick. I turned to look at a still breathless McKenzie, who stared at me above a now devilish smile as she gripped my dick and toyed with its head using her thumb.

“You should consider yourself lucky,” she said as her hand continued its work. “It takes a special girl to be able to handle an eleven inch tool.” Her hand barely made it around my shaft but her touch carried wonders with it. “Remember that,” she said as she gave a final squeeze and released me. “I’ll find you later.” With that, she rolled her naked body over and went to sleep.

I strolled out of the room in a daze and started to walk towards the stairwell, eager to see what I looked like. I made it a few steps before I realized there were eyes staring at me. It took a few steps more before I realized I was naked as the day I was born and wore a hard on that would have seemed oversized in porn. I stopped and looked around at the half dozen or so girls standing in the hallway. Apparently McKenzie’s screams and the structural damage we’d caused had garnered some attention. None of them said a word but all of their eyes leaned hungrily against my gigantic body. What did they see right now? I couldn’t wait to find out. What could one more pill do?

“Holy shit, Rhys,” one girl said in a horse whisper.

I smiled. “Rhys is my brother,” I said in a booming voice. “I’m Ryan.”

With that I turned and walked upstairs and back to my room.

CHAPTER 9

My joints groaned as I sat up and squinted against the harsh light of morning. The bed groaned even louder. I was as naked as the day I was born but larger than a man had right to be. The sensation of the raw power and weight I controlled made the whole world seem small and fragile by comparison. I could break that desk with my bare hands. I could kick that chest and crack it down the center. I flexed my right bicep and grabbed the boulder of muscle with my left hand. Veins rolled over the striations of the muscle they snaked over as I massaged it. My dick sprang to life instantly. Even my giant’s hand couldn’t wrap around its girth. Every inch of me was huge.

Yet I could be so much bigger.

I smiled as my eyes flickered to the tablets lying innocently on my brother’s desk. One pill (with a dump truck of food and a mountain of dumbbells) had padded me with well over a hundred pounds of muscle…in two days! What could the rest do?

I stood and had to steady myself against the exaggerated motion of my new height. I filled the room like a gale force wind. The eight foot ceiling was a very short reach above my head. After a few test steps I made my way to the desk and picked up the pellets. They seemed so insignificant piled in my hand. Yet inside, they could…

I lost all sense of thought or consequence and threw the handful of pills down my throat in one gulp. My mind exploded as an orgasmic tidal wave swept across my brain and my body grew to an extent the world had never seen. My body grew harder than iron as it expanded with raw power. The tile below my growing feet began to crack, then spider webbed out in every direction before collapsing into the floorboards like broken egg shells. My head crashed into the ceiling and gave way to my ever expanding form as I tore through the plaster and concrete with my bare hands. I roared like a titan, bursting the windows clear from their frames…

I shook myself violently out of the fantasy and put the pellets in the top drawer of the desk. Maybe they would be less tempting out of sight. I was big enough. For now. Shit, I didn’t even really know how big I was.

I needed a mirror.

The thought made me temporarily forget about the pills. I threw on a pair or basketball shorts that, while loose the day before, were now as snug as biker shorts and only made it halfway down my thigh. The hallway was empty as expected (spring break was only halfway over after all) but I could hear rummaging from behind the doors of the muscle dorm. In my haste, I rounded a corner too close and my shoulder slammed into the edge, leaving a softball sized indention. I’d be lying if I said my shoulder didn’t throb a bit, but the exhilaration of besting a building definitely helped sooth it. My new width would take as much getting used to as my new height. I finally made it to the bathroom and found myself staring at a living god in the mirror. There was muscular, and then there was MUSCULAR…and I exceeded even the latter. I must be nearing seven feet; I had to duck a little to see my own face. Below my head was the most perfect body I’d ever seen…swollen to fit a giant’s frame. Muscle was everywhere; strong, hard, ripped muscle. This wasn’t the gorged, balloon-like meat on Olympian bodybuilders. This was the muscle of a champion track star, expanded to super-human size. I threw a double bicep pose that made my lats expand like wings and made bowling balls blossom on my arms. Each pec was as big as my head and they sat upon abdominal bricks that could have held a gallon of water in the canyons they rose from.

I was so enraptured by my form that I didn’t even know there was company until I heard an “Oh shit” escape a pair of lips. My heart skipped a beat as I turned and looked down at a pair of pale blue eyes staring at me from behind thick lensed glasses. I recognized him in a second: that short cropped curly hair, the narrow face, the small pouty lips, the non-existent chin, the alabaster pale skin.

“Cody right?” my voice boomed. Cody’s face revealed every bit the nerd he was the moment I met him. Yet his upper body was now heavily muscled and contrasted drastically with his demeanor. He wasn’t huge my any means but those shoulders, arms, and chest would have been worn proudly by any high school athlete. And, by the outline of the towel that covered him from the waist down, his legs were still proportionately larger than his upper body. My brother did say he favored running. Built or not, he looked like a squirt compared to me.

It took a moment for Cody to get his mouth working. “What the fuck, Rhys?” he finally managed.

I laughed; it sounded like boulders tumbling over a rocky crag. “It’s Ryan,” I said cockily. “Can’t you see the difference?” I spread my arms wide and let him get an eye full. His eyes barely made it to my chest but they explored every inch of me. He reached out as if to touch me but his hand stopped halfway and just hung there. I looked at both our reflections in the mirror. Maybe he wasn’t as built as I thought he was. He had some abs, and some bumps on his arm, chest, and back. But it wasn’t real size.

Then, as suddenly as he had entered, Cody turned and hurried out of the bathroom. Apparently now wasn’t the time for a shower.

I just blew his mind, I thought. I looked back at the mirror and gave it a grin that would have melted women’s hearts even when I was a twig. Maybe it was time to blow some more.

It was a good day for a jog.

I went back to the room and tried to throw on a pair of shoes no longer big enough. After ripping through the back heel in a vain effort to force my foot in, I decided the shorts alone were enough and raced out of the room, down the stairs, and out the door into the warm, humid Florida spring.

I don’t know how long I ran. I navigated the twists and turns of the campus, switching from sidewalk to bike trail to wooded path without much thought. The residual from two days of semi-lucid muscle growth still lingered in my veins and it was all I could do to relish in ecstasy as my already mammoth legs continued to harden and swell.

It was apparent that my brain was not used to controlling such a beastly frame. My strides were far longer than expected and it took a little practice before I didn’t look like I was skipping. Growth is usually slow enough to keep the motor skills in step, but my body’s recent explosion seemed too much for it. The result was seemingly constant realizations that went beyond clipping walls with my shoulders. My stride was longer, for one, and it took a while just to find a natural gate.

By mid-day, I stood in front of the cafeteria with hands on knees and dripping sweat from every pore. Even though I just ran the equivalent of a marathon, I was a little disappointed to find I wasn’t invincible. The thought brought with it an image of those pills stashed in my brother’s desk. Maybe just one more.

But hunger trumped all at the moment so I strolled into the cafeteria, stomach screaming for food. My head brushed the sill of the door as I made my way in, still nude save my shorts and a shimmering sheen of sweat that grew cold as the building A/C brushed against me. Goose bumps rippled across the epic expanse of my skin and sent a chill down my spine.

The cashier was different today. She was cute, but petite. Not my style these days. Her eyes told me I was hers, though. She bit her lip as I covered her with my shadow.

“Holy shit, you’re beautiful?” she said, then immediately reddened.

I smiled as I showed her Rhys’ ID. She didn’t even look at it, let alone scan it. I just let her eyes follow me as I made my way to get the first of what would be many trays of food. The place was just as bare of students as the last few days, but what eyes it held were cemented ton me.

I both relished and ignored the attention, more fixated on shoveling food into my mouth. A dozen helpings later, with my ab rippled guy protruding as if pregnant with a teenager, I strolled out of the cafeteria and back into the dorm. A quick shower and a change of clothes and I’d head to the gym to see what I could throw around.

The shower took a little longer than I originally planned. I went through a whole bar of soap lathering up; my hands couldn’t get enough. It still hadn’t sunk in that this body was mine. It still felt like someone else’s. I turned the water off and began drying when I heard the bathroom door open.

“I dunno, man,” a voice said as footsteps made their way in. “I don’t feel anything. Nothing. I mean, we finished working out thirty minutes ago. I figured I’d feel…something.”

“Don’t worry,” a second voice chimed in. “We just got back to town last night.”

“I didn’t give up half my spring break for nothing,” the first replied. There was a grunt. “My biceps might be a little bigger.” Then he gave an exasperated sigh. “Fuck dude, I wanna get fucking jacked. I feel like a moron for not noticing it before. I mean, look at you. I used to be the bigger one. Now you have abs and arms like a gymnast. How the ever loving fuck did I not notice my roommate turning into a bodybuilder?”

The second guy snickered. “It’s hard to see when you have your head shoved up your girlfriend’s ass. It’s not my fault you spent the entire year so shacking up at Sophie’s place. All the guys living here are getting huge.”

“Let me feel that shit,” the first guy said. “God damn, that’s hard. I didn’t even know you worked out.”

“I didn’t,” the second guy said. “I do now, though. Once January rolled around, half this floor looked like jocks. I figured there had to be something going on.”

“Well did you feel anything at the gym today?”

There was a pause. “Like I said, maybe it just takes a while. It’s not like I know what’s going on either.” The door banged opened again and a third voice entered the conversation.

“Joe, Aaron. Come with me. You’re not going to believe this,” the third voice said before ducking back out. There was a moment of silence before I heard the first two follow suit.

I slowly counted to twenty before leaving the shower myself. It’s not like I was hiding, far from it. I just didn’t want to answer the questions those kids would be asking should they see me. It’s possible I was also feeling a bit guilty for taking their magic away. After all, I was voice number one not too long ago. I tried to convince myself it would all go back to normal once the good doctor came back to restock the shower heads.

I made my way back into my brother’s room and searched through Kevin’s gear looking for something a little more appropriate than these skin tight gym shorts. Rhys’s roommate was pushing three hundred pounds himself when I showed up last Friday so it shouldn’t be too hard to find something. I settled for a sleeveless tee and a pair of basketball shorts. Both were a little snug but by no means comical. He had a pair of shoes that, although tight, provided some sort of foot clothing. Kevin had some damn big feet.

I turned and made my way back out the room when I spied something on the ground. My heart fluttered when I noticed it was one of the pills. I must have dropped one during the haste of putting them in the desk drawer. I picked it up and toyed with it between two fingers. My mind took flight again. Although my sheer muscularity was beyond human capacity, my weight and height was by no means unheard of. There were NFL linemen on their way to four hundred pounds and basketball players well over seven feet tall. Maybe I could stop when I reached those milestones.

When I got to my car, the rogue pill was already slowly dissolving in a water bottle stuffed into my gym bag along with any remaining food from the dorm room. I made it to the gym without giving in to the pill’s temptation. I put the bag with the still full water bottle into a locker and made my way to the weight room. It was sparse but hardly empty. I hardly noticed; all I wanted to do was touch a weight.

I picked up a pair of sixties and began a warm-up set of bicep curls. Although the mental haze and supernatural growth brought on by using those pills were greatly reduced, their effect on my libido was still extreme. After a few sets I had to make a break for the locker room. I found a stall and dropped my pants. Completely enthralled in the act of pleasuring myself, I never heard the footsteps entering the restroom.

“You from the Muscle Dorm?” a voice called at my back from behind the stall door.

My hand stopped its work despite the desperate begging from my dick. Maybe he would go away. I was caught red handed…so to speak…and I didn’t know what to do.

“I know you’re in there,” the voice called again. I can see the back of your head above the stall door.

I felt my face redden as pulled up my pants, turned around, and peered over the door. Standing on the other side of the stall was a young college student in a sleeveless tank. Perhaps 5’10 and 200 pounds with brown hair and eyes, he had the body of someone who knew how to work out and did so often. Although not as hard and ripped as a seasoned bodybuilder, his muscles bulged in all the right places. His eyes dripped with confidence but his demeanor betrayed him.

He was uncomfortable.

“Yes?” I asked simply.

“You live in the Muscle Dorm, right?” he asked again.

“If you mean Powers Hall, then yes,” I replied.

“I’ve seen you around,” he said again. “You’re…bigger.”

“Yeah,” I said not knowing if he meant compared to my brother or me two days ago.

The other guy paused, face reddening. “People are talking,” he said. “I…”

I stared at him as he tried to make words. To say the moment was awkward would be an understatement.

“I mean,” he continued. “Well, a girl I know is sleeping with a guy over there. And, well, she’s like all fit and shit now. And, well, I dunno, I saw you doing, you know and…”

I felt a smile grow across my face and suddenly I was unlocking the stall and opening the door. Those cocky eyes widened as he took in the sight of me. Seeing a nearly seven foot monster from across a gym is one thing, but standing in its shadow is a dramatically different experience. His eyes slowly stepped down my body and stopped at my still erect dick doing a poor job of hiding behind my shorts.

The aspiring stud looked at me with both anxiety and hunger. He reached for my dick gingerly as if it were going to bite him. Once he touched it, however, he practically lunged. I tilted my head back in ecstasy as he started his work. He stopped only once and I looked down in frustration at the delay.

“I’m not gay,” he said, his cocky eyes showing only hunger now; the anxiety now gone.

I grinned, suddenly aware at how fine a line there was between gender preferences. “I don’t care,” I replied before urging him to continue. He took everything I gave him and I could feel the desperation as he practically sucked it like a straw. I sincerely doubted my semen would have any effect on him and, as my pleasure started to fade, I began to take pity on the poor guy.

I walked over to my locker and pulled my water bottle from the bag. The pellet had to be only partially dissolved but it was hard to tell through the nearly opaque plastic. “Here,” I said as I walked back over. “You might need to wash your mouth out.”

The young jock took the bottle but his eyes remained inward, as if he expected his body to erupt any minute now. He took a healthy swig and I suddenly thought of the dark brown pellet falling towards the bottle’s mouth and aim right for his. My stomach leaped as I tried to reach for the bottle before he dosed himself with what would be well over a hundred pounds of muscle.

I took the bottle away from him, slopping a few drops on his face as I took it. “Easy there champ,” I said somewhat frantically. Did he swallow it?

“Ugh,” he said as he made a final gulp. “That tastes like lukewarm bathwater.” He stood and looked at me with a mix of awe and wariness, then stared at himself in the mirror. It was an effort for me not to look into the mouth of the bottle, lest he grow suspicious. I still didn’t know if drinking this stuff was more or less effective than putting it on skin. I supposed he would find out shortly. His demeanor soon shifted from anticipation to frustration laced with embarrassment.

“Nothing is happening,” he said, his voice breaking. He looked at me. “You must think I’m an idiot.”

I flexed an arm that must have been two feet in circumference. “You don’t get to look like this without a little magic,” I said, knowing how dumb it sounded. He seemed to relax, however.

“Name’s Trevor,” he said and reached out his hand.

“Ryan,” I said as I took it. Something softened in me just then. I smiled at him. “I think we need to hit the weights.” I put the water bottle back in the locker, not caring whether it still contained the pellet or not.

CHAPTER 10

It was near sunset before I limped out of the gym, body aching and burning. The stuffing which had clouded my mind for the last three days was finally completely gone and gave me the chance to really feel my body. Although it lacked the insane pump of days before, I more than made up for it in sheer size. The gym scale topped out at three hundred pounds and I easily exceeded that. The sun’s red light danced across my frame, sending its canyon-like valleys and folds into shadows which danced as I made my way to the car. I let out a sigh of relief as I squeezed behind the steering wheel.

An unfortunate consequence of staying off the good stuff was that my body couldn’t work out for half a day without painful consequences. I don’t know why I felt the need to keep up with Trevor. I outweighed him by well over a hundred pounds and was far stronger…although appeared to be catching up. He worked out with the fury I’d succumbed to in the days prior and it was a sight to behold. He was possessed and unaware of anything around him other than the weights and occasionally me. He left midafternoon to get some food and I hadn’t seen him since. I spent that time laid back on the bench in the locker room trying to will my muscles to stop hurting. It was at that time I checked the water bottle and was only a little relieved to see the bulk of the pellet sitting in a hazy cloud at the bottom. All-in-all, Trevor might gain a few pounds. Not bad for a day.

I worked out haphazardly for a couple more hours, hoping to see Trevor walk back through the door. He never showed, though, up so I took my bag and headed out. After eating another giant’s dinner, I found myself back in my bedroom lying naked on my brother’s bed. I was bigger than I was this morning, but a few extra pounds on a 300+ pound frame was negligible. My shoulders were almost as wide as the mattress. Monster-sized or not, I hurt everywhere. Perhaps I should take it easy tomorrow…or perhaps I should take a few swigs from the bottle. My stomach lurched at the thought. My eyes bore lasers to the desk which held the remaining brown pills. I promised myself I’d slow down. If I didn’t, when would I? 400 pounds? 500? A thousand? I had to be above the upper threshold for human development as it was. Anything more would make me…a freak?

I had to admit the thought was more exhilarating than I would have imagined. I felt my bare stomach; abs as hard as granite rose like bricks below a gorged chest that was becoming hard to see around. I could feel my arms pull the surrounding skin tight with the simple act of moving a hand up and down my torso. There was so much power at my command. I could do anything with it. If only I had another pill.

In the end, exhaustion won over the internal debate boiling inside my skull. There was always tomorrow. Voices echoed through the halls outside my brother’s door as my consciousness slipped away. Deep voices and thundering footsteps crescendoed then faded as they strolled noisily down the hall. Excitement hung from each unintelligible word. It was Wednesday night and the dorm’s inhabitants were slowly making their way back from vacation…many because they wanted to feel that magic only found within these walls.

Sleep came quickly yet was wrought with dreams. I strolled through alabaster halls which crumbled with each step I took. The ceiling was but a hair’s width above my head and my shoulders were mere inches from touching either wall. People cowered in doorways, wanting to rush to safety yet mesmerized by my gargantuan form as I stormed by. Some doors were closed and held whispered breaths behind them.

“I saw him this afternoon,” the whispers said. “He’s massive and said he can show us how.” I knew those voices yet…they didn’t sound right.

Faces looked up at me from the doorway. Some were scared, some were lustful. Many were hungry.

“Does his brother know?” another pseudo-familiar voice asked.

I had to find those voices. The walls continued to crack and crumble around me but I never saw the source of those hushed whispers. They were coming from the end of the hall.

“He can’t know,” the whispers said. They were quieter now; more distant. “Not until we’re ready.”

My head scraped against the ceiling. I ducked and the motion sent my shoulder into the wall. The hallway was getting smaller. Yet I continued to race down its endless corridor. I had to find those whispers.

“…but it’s closed,” I heard.

“Not the one downstairs.”

My other shoulder was brushing against the wall now too. I had to crab sideways to make any progress.

“…fucking amazing…” the voice exclaimed before fading away.

“No!” I screamed as I tried to squeeze down the hall. But I could barely move; the hallway had gotten so small. Then I looked down and saw more people in the doorway, watching. They were smaller too.

No.

I was bigger. I looked down and gasped and my naked form. I was still growing. Arms the size of a grown man’s waist flailed out and crushed the walls as if made of paper. I stretched and flexed biceps the size of soccer balls. Legs bigger than a hundred year oak and covered with veins broke through the walls as I stood to full height and crushed the ceiling with my head. A roar escaped my lips and sent the mesmerized bystanders fleeing. Air, I needed air.

“I see you’re already ready for me,” the whisper said.

I gasped as a rush of energy exploded from my groin. I stood tall and stretched my ever growing body. I was pure energy. The hallway was a ruin. Nothing could stop me. I heard my voice mumbling, dazed and covered in film. I felt my body swell and stretch my skin like a balloon. So much power. I felt amazing. The world began to blur as I flexed every muscle in my body. I was free. The orgasmic lust in my groin grew and with it the world around me grew hazy before fading into darkness.

I blinked.

A faint silhouette sat hauntingly before my now open eyes.

“I said you’re already ready for me,” I heard a woman’s voice say as she stroked my dick with her hand.

I moaned in pleasure as I slowly woke up and let the dream fade from memory. Night filled the window but the faint glow of moonlight glinted off McKenzie’s perfect face and form. She was naked and a silver glow lined the graceful yet ample musculature of her body.

“Whatever happened to knocking?” I asked as my hand reached up and cupped her breast. She took that as an invitation to climb on top of me.

“Well maybe you should start locking your door,” she whispered as she slowly worked me inside of her. It was as tight a fit as ever but she slowly glided onto me. My world exploded as did hers. Where would I find such a woman back home? I was too big for anyone else.

Sleepiness was bulldozed by sexual arousal. I wanted to take her like the night before but instead let her run the show as she so liked do. My body felt like it had been hit by a truck. Besides, I was strangely distracted. I couldn’t remember my dream but it left behind a seed of worry. I felt my eyebrows furrow.

McKenzie either didn’t notice or didn’t care. She rested a knee on either side of my waist and used her thighs to raise and lower herself onto me. I watched as the lines of her body moved and danced with each thrust. She leaned over and massaged my chest with her hands.

I laughed and made my dick jump. The effort shoved her forward and nearly toppled her over. “I’m big enough,” I whispered.

She smiled dangerously and flexed some unknown muscle in her vagina. I came immediately as she clawed my stone shoulders. “Careful there, big guy,” she whispered into my ear before bighting the earlobe. “I’m stronger than I was last night.”

Suddenly I thought of Trevor and his strange, but satisfying, theory. Maybe he was right, I thought with a grin

McKenzie pushed me back and grabbed my traps for leverage until she was done. A few minutes later she was lying on top of me, rubbing her fingers from the hair of my crotch to the nape of my neck and back down. She had no choice but to lay on me as I practically engulfed the mattress. She complained about it more than one.

“You love it,” I said as I flexed a pec and bounced her into the air.

She smiled but her eyes were distant.

“What’s wrong?” I asked.

She was silent for a moment. “Nothing,” she said, then stopped herself. “Well, I’m sure it’s nothing.”

I flexed my pec again and sent her head flying. “Out with it,” I demanded as she smacked my other pec.

“I don’t know,” she said quietly. “There’s just something going on around here. There’s you, of course. You woke up half the hall last night and the site of your gargantuan body walking naked down the hall has sent the dozen eyes that saw you leave my room into a tizzy. We don’t talk about what’s going on here but…” She yawned and her hand rested on the expanse of my left bicep. She gave it a squeeze and smiled below closed eyes. “Today was different,” she said as sleep began to take her.

“Different?” I asked.

“I dunno, it’s probably nothing,” she said again. “It just seems like people are whispering in dark corners.”

With that, her breath slowed to the steady rhythm of sleep. I was wide awake now and my mind raced with semi-connected thoughts. I had never been the sharpest knife in the drawer but I had been the only one who figured out about those pills in a dorm full of supposedly smart college freshmen.

So why did that see of worry suddenly shoot leaves.

My unidentifiable worry didn’t let up but I was still exhausted from the gym today and sleep finally came to me as well.

* * *

I awoke to golden rays of sun and was surprised to find no sign of McKenzie. Maybe I dreamt that too, I wondered. I sat up and braced myself for an epic post-workout pain that wasn’t there. I felt fine. In fact, I felt wonderful. Wonderful enough to go to the gym again.

I wasted no time. I got dressed in some more of Kevin’s clothes and after a quick brushing of my teeth I grabbed the gym bag and was heading down the stairs.

I walked to the hall’s front door and, as I opened it, nearly ran into a delivery guy holding what looked to be a dozen meals worth of Chinese food.

“Finally,” he said as he picked up his stash. “I’ve been trying to call for—“ He stopped cold when he looked up at the giant who opened the door. “Shit,” was all he said before waddling by me and through the door I was holding. Not taking his eyes off me, he turned and made his way down the stairs.

I laughed to myself as I shut the door behind me. I’d only been down there once (what seemed like ages ago while trying to break into the “janitor’s” closet) but was sure no one lived in the basement. Besides, who orders Chinese food at 9 am?

I walked around the building and into the “beach” area between Powers Hall and the other three dorms which bordered it. The sun was warm and my skin felt like it was absorbing every photon. I smiled at the perfect day. Maybe there was time to get a little sun before I hit the gym. It was spring break after all.

Being so early in the morning, by college standards, there wasn’t anyone else to share the beach with so I meandered to a grassy area near the base of the muscle dorm where the sun was able to reach. I put my gym bag down and as I started to lie down I noticed a steady roar of rock music coming from the building. It seemed to be coming from behind two translucent slit windows inches above the ground. I crept closer, trying to get a better look through the hazy glass.

“It’s the Powers weight room,” a voice called at my back. I turned and stood up to full height. In front of me was a suddenly awestricken teen in a white tank top. Perhaps 5’10 and 180, he was in decent shape but wouldn’t turn any heads. He suddenly seemed to be at a loss for words.

“There’s a gym in the basement?” I asked incredulously.

“Um, yeah,” the kid called back as he worked up his courage. “Every dorm area has a weight room that no one uses. Rusty plates a high school wouldn’t take; a few dumbbells with the rubber guards falling off; shitty machines; the usual.”

I looked back towards the window. “Well someone is using it now.” And was digging into a truckload of Chinese food.

“Well there’s always a few nerds down there who are too scared to go to a real gym,” he said to my turned head. Something tickled the back of my brain but a pressure against my stomach shattered my concentration. I turned to find this guy I’d never met rubbing his hands over the bricks of my abdomen. His eyes, which barely came to the center of my chest, were completely infatuated.

“Can I help you?” I asked, laughing. The effort made my stomach tighten and the ravines between my abs deepen. He pulled his hand back as if bitten. Yet no embarrassment blossomed on his cheeks. He looked…determined.

“Look,” he started. “I’ve seen you around. You weighed less than me back in the fall.” His eyes fogged a bit. “So did my friend, Clayton.” He looked back at me. “I saw you and your jock friend walking through here every day from my window over there.” He pointed to one of the halls across from Powers. “And every day you two were a little bigger. A little taller. And you two weren’t the only ones; just the first.” His eyes turned to a non-descript window on the second floor. “He doesn’t even talk to me anymore. He only hangs out with people from the muscle dorm now.” He looked back at me again. “You don’t know how hard it is to watch your best friend from elementary school get a little bigger than you every day until he finally just moves on.”

The kid went silent and I took that as my cue to speak. I could only look my feet and feel somewhat awkward. “Actually, I know exactly what that feels like.” I looked at him and saw myself in his eyes. “Maybe it’s time you caught up.”

CHAPTER 11

“Uhhh,” David groaned as I rolled over a speed bump. “I just verped. Holy shit, why did you make me eat so much?”

I laughed and gave him a pat on the shoulder with my free arm. “Eat big, grow big, Dave,” I said with an intentionally obnoxious tone. David replied with a burp. I laughed again and reached to the back seat and fumbled clumsily through my gym bag while trying to keep an eye on the road.

About an hour had passed since I heard David’s sad story about how his high school buddy was suddenly bitten by the muscle bug and left him in the dust. My decision to take this kid under my wing wasn’t solely due to the obvious similarities between our two stories. To be vain (and narcissistic), this guy had the potential to be as good looking as me. He had eyes as blue as sapphires which shimmered just as brightly. Beneath a slight layer of baby fat was an angular face that could have graced the cover of magazines. All he needed was a little muscle to make him into an Adonis.

I finished fumbling through my bag and pulled out the infamous water bottle. “Here,” I said nonchalantly. “Take a swig of this and wash that food back down.”

David took hold of it and unscrewed the cap. I saw the outline of the liquid within through the translucent plastic as it tilted towards his mouth. My breath caught as I thought of that intoxicating elixir entering David’s unsuspecting veins. David himself must have sensed something. He stopped before even a drop fell on his tongue and pushed bottle back to my hand. “Dude, when was the last time you washed this thing. It smells like dirt.”

David looked at me warily. “I think I’ll pass.” I saw the distrust behind those eyes as he forced the bottle back into my grip. The guy thinks he’s the butt of a joke, I thought. I looked at him for a moment, his slightly fluffy body appearing formless in his white muscle tee. His gut protruded past his chest by a fair margin thanks to the breakfast I forced on him. It would be a shame to see that go to waste. The thought of this new friend of mine growing was more than I could pass up…and deep down I knew that I was just looking for an excuse for what I was about to do.

I lifted the bottle and took a gulp of its contents. He was right, it smelled (and tasted)like dirt. Heart racing, I handed the bottle back. “Trust me,” I said. “Just a few gulps.”

The distrust was replaced by wariness but he did as I told him and took a couple swigs. By now, the pellet had completely dissolved and we were drinking highly concentrated muscle juice. I only hoped I could still fit in Kevin’s clothes when they day was done.

“Bleh,” David said as he recapped the bottle. “I think I preferred the puke.”

I said nothing. The strangely exhilarating thought of what David was about to become was suddenly overcome by that familiar nagging tickle in the back of my brain. Although mute, it had proven to be an indicator of chaos (good or bad) in the past.

We got to the gym and retrieved our gym bags from the trunk; both were loaded with high calorie foodstuffs. My bag alone weighed about forty pounds, more than I’d need for a single workout but I found the thought of putting that much more weight on exhilarating. Besides, the way the weight, however insignificant, made my arm swell was satisfaction enough.

Fuck, I can’t wait to get into that gym!

The juice was definitely taking effect.

“I think you’re over-estimating my capabilities,” David said as he lumbered alongside me with his own overstuffed bag. “I don’t think I’ll eat for a week, let alone feast on all this shit you had me buy.”

I sighed. “You’re a little whiney bitch aren’t you?” I asked as I reached in front of his face and flexed a bicep bigger than his head. Dense, bunched fibers bulged from my arm and his jaw dropped. “How many times do I have to tell you to trust me?”

Whether due to my physically intimidating display or the juice hitting his system, determination spread across David’s face like a tidal wave. He didn’t answer me. He didn’t have to. We strolled into the gym and I greeted the young desk attendant with a wink.

“Holy Christ, another one?” the guy said as he put his fitness magazine down. “Where are y’all coming from?”

I smiled and bounced my boulder-like pecs. “There’s no one else like me,” I said as I strolled by, feeling confident and a little buzzed. The juice was potent. I could see it in David too. He was breathing more deeply and his eyed were both glazed and determined. I suddenly wondered if I’d wasted most of the prior pill’s power by putting it on my skin instead of just drinking all of it. That seemed to be so much more effective. I thought of the mostly full bottle sloshing around in my gym bag.

“Hold up,” I said as we walked in the locker room. “Can you pull that scale over here?” A moment later, I was standing with each foot on a scale. Each maxed out at 300 but together…

“Fuck dude,” David said at my side. “Three thirty-five!”

I could only smile as I stepped off. The two of us threw our bags in random lockers and headed to the gym. Eyes bored into me from every corner of the gym but I ignored them and made my way over to the dumb bell section. I wrapped my hands around a pair of sixties and looked over at David, who had his hands wrapped around a set of twenties. His pale formless arms protruded from his sleeveless tank like albino slugs but they twitched in anticipation of a metamorphosis they didn’t quite understand.

“You ready for this shit?” I asked him.

“More than you know,” he said.

We picked up our weights and the world went wild. We didn’t care who heard; we didn’t care who saw. We were completely transfixed in each other and the weights without a thought of anything else. Oh god, I lived for this shit. I felt my body begin to expand almost from the moment I picked those sixties up. But while my change was visibly negligible, David morphed before my eyes.

Within a few sets, the soft lining of his frame started to disintegrate and was replaced by the hard lines of an athlete. He was a fucking natural and his body exploded as if waiting its whole life to do so. The soft balls of his shoulders suddenly had creases along their sides. Those creases appeared to grow deeper as his shoulders grew outward. Over the hour that became two and then three, striations branched across the muscle as his skin grew taught. He screamed as he performed a final, shaking rep of curls before throwing his thirty fives to the ground and giving the mirror most muscular. Lats, invisible a moment before, were suddenly protruding from his ribs. He hadn’t even worked that muscle group out yet. Soft thirteen inch arms were now pumped fifteen inchers covered with the faint outline of muscle-feeding veins.

“Give me a spot,” David ordered as he lifted a pair of nineties off the rack next to me. Without objecting to who ordered who around here, I stood behind him on the incline bench and gave him a lift to the starting position of an inclined press. He cried out as he let the weights fall and I worried he was going to break himself. But he caught them just in time and his arms shook in epileptic jerks as he tried (unsuccessfully) to push them back up. I put my hands under his elbows and started to push.

“Fuck you!” he screamed through short, desperate breaths. I pulled my hands away and watched in awe as his shaking arms slowly started to make upward progress. The flat chest rising up above his low collar suddenly started to swell, first in thin sinews which each expanded outward until two pectoral bulges defined themselves on either size of an increasingly deepening rift. Finally, his shaking arms finished the rep. I moved to relieve him of the weights but he drove me away with a stare. Again he let the weight fall. This pecs stretched like an overlapping pile of cables. Then he pushed the weight up again. And again and again. He roared as punched out another half dozen reps as blinding speed before finally letting the weights fall and drop to the ground with a crash.

David bounced up from the deck. “Yeah!” he screamed at the mirror and gave it a most muscular. His triceps had balled up into dense horseshoes and those faint veins were now bulging on his arms. His pecs were a dark red on his pale skin and looked like a mountain range. He turned and surprised me by punching me in the gut. I flexed my abs before the second one landed. “These-fucking-squeezes-are-fucking-incredible,” he yelled, each word punctuated by a jab on my wall of abdominal muscles. By the time he was done, the punches had actually started to hurt.

Breathless and crazed, David stepped back, hands still balled into fists. His increasingly defined shoulders and now bulging chest rose and fell with each deep breath. His arms looked ready to explode, they were so pumped. Any semblance of baby fat had melted from his frame. I was slightly jealous to admit that he was now better looking than me. The lines on his face were perfect. He didn’t seem to notice or care. “I’m hungry,” he said, quietly for a change.

I could only oblige. I was famished myself. If I ate like a pig, he ate like a titan. I found myself full after about ten pounds of food but he made it through most of his bag before finally finishing. Gut protruding as grossly as when we arrived, David started making his to the locker room door.

“Uh, David?” I said carefully.

David turned, eyes glazed like a stoner. I had to take a mental step back. The soft 180 pound kid from the morning had completely transformed. He was now a 200 pound ball of muscle. He filled out his sleeveless top in all the right places. Sweat-sheened boulders popped out of each sleeve and capped swollen arms too swollen with blood-gorged muscle to be called cut. The cleavage of his upper chest ran like a canyon from his collar to the nape of his neck and well-formed traps seemed to pull his neck wider. His dazed eyes grew questioning and I shook myself from my stupor. I pointed at the tent in his pants. “You may want to take care of that,” I said with a grin. “Else it will take care of itself at a more inopportune time.”

David looked down, shrugged and found himself a stall. Without closing the door, he dropped his gym pants and started jerking off. A second later, he looked over his shoulder. “A little privacy?”

I laughed, stood up, and left the locker room. I was still more than half again his size but couldn’t shake David’s perfection. A moment later I was staring at own reflection, taking in what 335+ pounds of solid muscle looked like. There probably wasn’t a specimen like me anywhere on the planet. I took the rest of the room in, comparing myself to them. They were ants. I flexed my arms and watched the twenty something inch boulders grow and grow and grow.

I got back to working out and was three sets in before David and his swollen gut returned from the bathroom.

“Shy testicles?” I asked jokingly.

“Let’s get back to work,” he said stoically.

While the adrenaline was somewhat diminished for me, it was still bulldozing through him. He moved from one exercise to another with no rest. David continued to expand. I guess I was as well. My pump was incredible and it I felt myself getting wider in every direction.

David was finding it increasingly difficult to constructively express the fury boiling inside of him. Aside from punching me with increasingly punishing swings of his fist, he would grab immobile objects like weight machines and try bending them in half. Those working out in the gym with us became gawkers as the scene became increasingly violent. I was left with moments of peace only during his frequent jerkoff breaks. But each time he returned, it was always with an increased fervor I couldn't explain. Awe turned into nervousness as David grew increasingly strong.

Although still a runt compared to me, his strength exceeded his size by a large margin and I had to make him stop punching my stomach. There was little doubt it would be a wall of purple the next morning. And he wasn’t slowing down. Four hours after we first got there, I found myself as part of the crowd just watching the show. Surely, his body would slow down soon. I hadn’t been that crazed had I? I was pretty sure that I was able to contain myself during those “low dose” workouts. It wasn’t until I started really upping the amount I was consuming. And David had only taken a gulp or to more than I had this morning.

Hadn’t he?

David roared and threw the 120 pound dumbbell he was using at the floor as if spiking a football. The impact left a crack in the foamed padding that I knew must extend to the concrete below. Every eye was on my new protégé as he paced maniacally in a small circle, eyes crazed and posture drunk with power. Sweat bled through his top, the damp fabric glued to his bulging body like wallpaper. His slowly expanding shoulders and chest heaved as he gasped for enough breath to fuel his next set. It was hard to tell if the writhing muscle beneath his skin was just twitching or if they were growing before my eyes. That was when he noticed me, with his head turned and eyes looking over his shoulder. Those sapphire eyes, sharp and clear and menacing. Then his lips curled in a faint smirk. Beneath those darkening eyes, that cocky grin spoke to me through a bull horn and a cool wind suddenly brushed against my newly clammy skin.

Oh no.

I turned and raced to the locker room and threw open my locker. There, among the empty coffins of food I never ate was my gym bag. And in the gym bag was my water bottle. And in the water bottle was barely enough water to cling to a finger tip.

Suddenly the world was no longer in my control. I turned and like a zombie made my way back into the weight room, empty bottle in my hand. I passed the gym manager as he practically begged his two biggest trainers to do something to stop this growing monster. The two obviously wanted no part in it. The man turned to me, noticing my size, and started pleading with me instead. I walked by without hearing a word.

I stepped to the two dozen other students, now staring at the rabid beast doing pull-ups with 135 pounds of plates hanging from his belt. His lats flared like demon wings from beneath arms as dense as stone. His top was now straining to contain his ever growing girth. An obscene growth bounced in his shorts with every lift, hardly camouflaged beneath an ever widening stain. Rep after rep after rep. He roared with fury and the bars holding him bent as he jerked himself up over and over again. Yes, I was bigger. But his eyes held a power mine never did. And within him was a seed that would grow into something that would make me a speck of dust to him. And he'd fed it with all the food we brought with us that morning.

When he looked at me again, the smirk became a smile that only showed his teeth. He had played me for a fool. And I had played along. Before I knew it, I was backing up and then racing for the front door.

I was as big as anyone had ever been. But never had I felt so small.

* * *

I ran from the parking lot up the grassy beach to my brother's dorm, mind racing. I was about to let a maniac loose on the campus; one powerful enough to treat its entirety like a personal punching bag. I still had the empty bottle in my hands. He’d practically taken a whole pill. I’d done the same but wasted most of it by rubbing on my skin. And I’d gained well over a hundred pounds. What was to become of David?

The rock music still blasted from the dorm basement as I made my way around it and to the entryway door. It wasn't until I nearly slammed into a Sonny's BBQ delivery guy making his way out that I was shaken from my thoughts. He looked up at me just as the Chinese food delivery guy from the morning had. Only the sight of me didn't put him in utter awe this time. He was in awe already; the sentiment was already buried in his eyes. His dazed expression didn't even notice me.

I let him by without a comment. Puzzle pieces were now snapping together and forming a picture in my mind. As the picture grew clear, I scolded myself for not seeing it sooner. But even the brightest of light is invisible to those not looking at it. Heart pounding, I took a hesitant step down the stairs towards the blasting music. Half a level down, I passed the infamous janitor closet from the semester before. I turned and made my way the down final half level to the Powers Gym doors. Behind them, partially hidden under the notes, were the telltale sounds of metal crashing and men grunting. Peeking through the split between the doors yielded a narrow view which gave little away. Shadows danced with the light but that was all. The proximity did let me make out voices. The closest one, although unintelligible, sounded familiar.

Something is different, McKenzie had told me the night before as she dozed off.

Why had I thought of that?

I took hold of the door handle and turned it ever so slowly, hoping the boom of the music and the clank of steel would overpower the cries of rusty hinges.

I had dreamed that night too. I heard voices in the darkness, whispering, plotting. What that a figment of my mind or did I overhear something in the hallway as I slept?

I heard the dull click of the door latch releasing and slowly pushed the door forward an inch. Then two. The shadows became figures. I pushed the door open an inch more.

He’s massive and said he can show us how, the voice in my dream had said.

I couldn’t believe my eyes.

Giants roamed the basement of Powers Hall. There was no other way to describe them. There were three figures that I could see. Their heads were mere centimeters from the ceiling and their frames made mine look…average. Arms the size of watermelons picked up bars loaded to capacity with rusty 45 pound plates and curled them with ease. Their biceps swelled like balloons to the size of a man’s waist. Shoulders as big as the 45 pound plates boiled with every movement and themselves were mere baubles compared to backs with muscle upon muscle upon muscle that stepped up to the base of their skulls and fell like sides of beef to narrow yet ripped waists.

They were naked.

Clothes their size would be rare. They were obviously relishing their new bodies. Their striated asses were granite boulders atop thighs as wide as a normal man’s upper torso. Their calves alone were the size of basketballs. I couldn’t take my eyes away. They could have broken me in half.

How?

Then a forth figure stepped into the light. He held an entire roasted chicken in his giant hand and tore off a quarter of it with his teeth, not caring if the bite included bones. I saw—his legs! They were inhuman. Ten seconds ago I thought my body was the epitome of human size. Then those three monsters proved just how much more the human body was capable of. Now, this god of a human stretched the horizon even further. I don’t know if I could have gotten my arms around either leg but it would be close nonetheless. Veins ran like rivers over the mountains of his quads. They made it hard for me to breathe. His upper body was beyond anything I’d seen but paled in comparison to those titan legs. My eyes trailed up to his face but I knew who I’d see. That mop of hair. The recessed chin. Those sharp eyes. The guy who’s legs had always far outpaced the rest of him.

It was Cody. Dorky Cody. The same Cody who literally looked up to me, eyes hungry and himself feeling small in my presence. And look at him now.

“Well those didn’t last long,” Cody said as he swallowed the last of the chicken. His voice boomed over the music. He had to duck just to keep his head from hitting the ceiling. “Rick, you’re up. I’m thinking pizza again. A dozen larges.”

The other three laughed as one got his phone out and the others returned to their weights. Cody just watched his friends relishing in his dominion. His left hand seemed to have a mind of its own as it caressed his own body from upper chest down to upper thigh and back. I found myself wanting to touch it too.

Suddenly my two inch window opened completely and I found myself falling forward.

“Well look who I found,” a voice boomed overhead. I looked up from my knees and found myself inches away from a man’s crotch, his meat dangling like a grandfather clock pendulum. I looked up further across deep cascades of abs and around a pair of pecs that hung like crags from his chest. Above those slabs was Rick’s face staring down at me, phone pressed to his ear.

My face grew red. My heart raced as the others hooted from the other side of the gym. Suddenly the music was off and I was surrounded. Rick just laughed and sauntered off through the doors to the base of the stairs, putting in their pizza order.

One of the others put his arm around my shoulders. He felt like a molten rock against me. His skin was hot and slick with sweat. He smelled of iron and musk. The sturdiness of him made me feel pudgy by comparison. “You must be Ryan,” he said as he squeezed me. “Your brother isn’t going to be happy about this, is he?”

I knew that voice. It was deeper and more powerful now but two days ago I’d heard it. I was in the shower and heard him talking to his friend about how small he was. Aaron? Joe? I didn’t have time to think about it before Cody stepped up to me. My eyes barely reached the others’ nose but they only made it to Cody’s Adam’s apple, putting him over 8 feet tall. Up close, with the overhead lights spilling down over his shoulders and setting off his body in light and shadow, he looked even bigger. I gulped. He smiled.

“Hey there Ryan,” he said with his head bent down to avoid breaking through the concrete ceiling. “Surprised to see us?” He stepped back and raised his arms in a double bicep that even made his friends gasp.

“How?” was all I could muster.

The three of them laughed and Cody dropped his arms. “Awe, Ryan. What’s the fun in giving that away when you're sure to find out yourself?” he asked as he reached down and picked up a pair of gym shorts from the ground. After searching the pockets, he dropped the shorts and held the contents in his closed fist.

“People will notice,” I heard myself say, instantly wincing.

That resulted in even more laughter. Rick entered the room and threw his phone back on the pile of clothes. Cody stepped back up and I was again encircled by these monsters. “Of course they’ll notice. The whole world will notice.” He held out his hand and I looked down. “But not yet, right? We’re only just beginning.”

I looked down and saw four of the muscle pellets looking like sand colored tic-tacs in his giant hands. The breath rushed from my lungs. They only laughed harder as Cody gave each of his friends a pill, leaving the last for himself.

“Bottoms up, boys,” Cody said and the four of them each swallowed an entire pellet.

My brain went into overload and I took a step back, hitting a brick wall that was Aaron or Joe. Rick held his palms against each other and started pumping his arms as if expecting to watch them grow before his eyes. Maybe they were. All four were suddenly and passionately fixated on each other's body.

I ducked under Cody and raced to the door, letting their laughter chase me into the stairwell.

“You should have shared!” I heard Cody yell from the gym as I continued my race up the stairs.

Two flights later, I burst into my brother’s dorm room and started grabbing my things and stuffing them into my duffle bag. I had to get out of here. Let Rhys figure this shit out. Hell, I’ll leave him a couple of my pellets for good measure.

The pellets.

I stopped and turned to the desk. Two steps brought me to the drawer. I opened it and the world grew cold.

Maybe you should start locking your door, McKenize had once told him.

The drawer held only dust.

The mystery was solved but I felt no relief. I backed away from the desk, hands grabbing chucks of hair on either side of my head. What was I to do?

Suddenly, there was a knock at the door. McKenzie? Cody? My brother?

“Who’s there?” I heard myself say, voice shaky and trodden. I was answered only by another knock. Firmer this time.

I stepped to the door and turned the knob. Behind it was the last person I expected or wanted to see.

Standing in the door frame, starting at me with eyes cold with anger, was Dr. Powers.

He spoke with barely hidden disdain. "We have a problem, don't we?"

CHAPTER 12

Dr. Powers slipped by me as if he owned the room. “Shut the door,” he ordered. I obliged then turned to face him, finding the greying man standing in the middle of the room with his hands held thoughtfully behind his back. He stared at me through cold blue eyes. I returned a glare just as cold and prepared to stand my ground. The events of the previous few hours put me in no mood to be lectured by a man I could crush with one hand.

Although nearing sixty by the look of his face, he was still an impressive figure by normal standards and filled out his clothes well. Silver lined his temples while a thick and neatly combed salt-pepper mix covered the rest. His eyes were a sharp and clear blue; a bombardier’s eyes that spoke of a dark intelligence within. They searched my body mechanically and with purely scientific interest. His demeanor was harsh. He stood perhaps six feet tall and could have weighed two hundred pounds. It was hard to tell exactly through the suit he was wearing.

“What do you want?” I boomed and crossed my arms before me, letting my chest flair and arms swell. I was a giant compared to him: my nearly seven foot tall body bulging with muscle upon muscle capable of bending him in half. He had to sense the disparity even if his face remained flat.

“Impressive,” the doctor stated mechanically as his eyes searched my frame. Once satisfied, his steely gaze shifted from my leg to my eyes. “How do you feel? Heart issues? Back pain? Joint problems? Bones feel strong? Are you urinating regularly-“

“I’m fine,” I said, a little taken aback by his choice of topics.

“Good,” he said as he stepped towards me.

Everything happened so fast. One second I was towering over him, his eyes level with my sternum. Then he revealed something hidden behind his back. Then there was pain. So much pain. The world rolled before my eyes. I tried to resist, to fight. Something slammed against my back. I heard a crash.

Confused and dazed, I looked up to see Dr. Powers standing over me with a black metal pole in his hand. He stepped over me as I tried in vain to get up. My muscles only spasmed uselessly. “Why” dribbled from my lips. Without a word, the doctor stabbed at me with the black pole. There was a hissing sound as I was wracked with a pain double that of the first. I tried to scream but the world went black before I could open my mouth.

* * *

I heard voices, garbled voices, as if I were overhearing a conversation under water. My head hurt and that feeling of cotton stuffed between my ears was back in force. It was the dazed and confused feeling I’d had each time I woke up after…wait…Had I taken another pill? My heart leaped. How big was I now?

Wait, that wasn’t right. This feeling was different.

Something was wrong.

I opened my eyes and was greeted by a blurred world. There was movement. A tall shape and a short shape. They were only dark talking blobs. And they were both taller than me…wait. No. I was looking at them from the ground. I tried to raise my head and was terrified to discover I couldn’t move it. Panic boiled in my gut. I tested my legs again, then my arms, my fingers. Nothing. I tried to yell for help but only a negligible gurgle came out.

The panic cleared my mental fog like a wildfire. Dr. Powers! He’s here. He…tazed me! I tried again to move but all was in vain. All I could do was try to blink away the blur.

And listen.

“You need his blood, Ben,” I heard Dr. Powers’ voice say. “But the anesthesia is swimming in there too. It attacks the nervous system quickly, though, so he’ll take the brunt of it. You will likely only be put in a light sleep.”

“Well look whose back,” he said as his slowly sharpening form moved over me. I finally blinked the blur away to reveal those cold blue eyes staring at me from above. Rage filled me as I fought against those invisible chains which bound by body. I could hear a growl begin in my gut and felt my head start to swing ever so slightly side-to-side, but that was the physical extent of my rage.

Dr. Powers laughed and turned his attention to a metal pole rising from somewhere over my head. It appeared to be an IV stand and attached to it was a giant bag of clear, yellowish liquid. “Let’s just up the dose a bit,” he said as he fiddled with something out of my eyesight. I rolled my eyes down and that’s when I noticed the tubes. A half dozen were jutting out from my still massive form. Two held the clear liquid and entered in at my wrist. Four others were filled with a deep crimson liquid which could only have been my blood. Those tubes were as thick as drinking straws and erupted from the meatiest part of each arm and thigh.

Suddenly my body felt cold and those invisible chains grew tighter. What limited movement I had suddenly disappeared. I looked back up at Dr. Powers and saw he was done fiddling with the IV.

Now I could only stare at my captors with cold hate. As Powers finished with the IV, the second figure waited patiently from a wheelchair. He was ancient, well over eighty. He also looked incredibly familiar. He wore pressed slacks and a white, buttoned dress shirt that hung on his bony frame like a curtain. His cloudy eyes had intensity but the face they were planted in sagged like a deflated balloon. Most of his scalp was mottled with dark spots. What little hair he owned either blobbed like weeds on his brow or fell in scattered strands from scalp to his neck. He stared at me with obvious hunger.

Finished with the IV, Powers turned back and stared over me, eyes searching. I looked down at my useless body. I was where I had fallen, giant legs sprawled on the floor and my torso lying on my brother’s mattress. The frame of the bed had collapsed as I fell on it and I found myself partially sitting, mostly lying on both the floor and bed. I was surprised to find that I was naked.

I forced my eyes back on Dr. Powers, and found myself locked in his gaze. “You ready to give back what you borrowed?” he asked. Without a pause, he turned back to the familiar man in the wheelchair. “Come on up, Ben. Let’s get you on the bed.”

As he gingerly helped the elderly man to his feet and guided him to my brother’s roommate’s bed, I wracked my brain to remember who he was. I’d seen those eyes, that face. Even the wheelchair. Whoever he was, he kept staring at me with those hungry eyes. What did he want from me?

“We hoped this wouldn’t be necessary, boy,” Powers said after he laid his friend down. He then bent down a picked up four thick clear tubes. I looked back at my body and saw four similar tubes stick in each thigh and the meatiest part of each arm. A quick scan revealed that my blood-filled tubes ran into small machine before emerging empty on the other side and were now being inserted into similar parts of the old man’s body. “You’ll be okay, Ben,” he said tenderly. “When you wake up you will be a new man.”

With that, he turned on the machine separating my tubes from Ben’s and suddenly the blood on my side rushed into Ben’s side and entered his body. The man groaned as his gaze held mine. Then his eyes grew heavy his breathing feeble. After a moment, they closed.

I turned my attention back to Dr. Powers, who was already staring at me. “Don’t judge me, boy,” he said with a sneer. “You should be down in the Bahamas with your pretty-boy roommate. It’s not my fault you stumbled on this little secret.”

He turned and started making his way around the room, which I only now realized was trashed. Every drawer was open with contents thrown haphazardly onto the floor.

“I made this medication for us, but they need a young man’s body to work. Truth be told, it was your roommate who seemed the best fit for this experiment. A half dozen pills only gave me an extra twenty pounds. For Ben Fitz here they were useless. But for you…” his eyes flickered to my body. “Well, let’s say we didn’t expect them to work so well. How many did you take? Five? Six? All of them?” He didn’t wait for a response he knew I was unable to provide. How surprised would he be to discover I’d taken only one?

Dr. Powers continued to search the room for any pills I’d saved. His search was interrupted as a crash shook the room and was followed by a herd of thunderous voices. Their laugher boomed through the door and their footsteps made the ground shake.

My breath caught. The boys from the basement had emerged and, by the sound of things, were much bigger than the giants I’d run away from earlier today. The torrent of sound erupting from them audibly made its way down the hallway, leaving Dr. Powers in what only could be called a stupor. As the sound faded down the hall, Powers made his way to the door. He opened it and peeked towards the chaos. Upon seeing the scene out of my eyeshot, his jaw dropped. “My god,” he whispered. Without another word he gathered his things and bolted from the room, closing and locking the door behind him.

Now it was only this mysterious Ben Fitz and myself, connected by some blood machine what was…what? Going to make him younger? He appeared to be the same old geezer I saw sitting in the wheelchair when I—

Suddenly the memory came flooding back. Ben Fitz. The Fitz Mafia…this crusty old man was the honorary mascot of my brother’s workout group. The pieces were slowly fitting together. I felt my heart race in its paralyzed body. Dr. Powers and Dr. Fitz were the co-authors of the paper I found on gene therapy. And the tenants of this dorm were their lab rats. Both had their eyes all over this place.

A groan shook me from my thoughts. Although still wispy, it was stronger than the frail and shaking voice I’d heard from Fitz so far. He was still the old man. Yet…

Didn’t his shirt once sit on him like a tent? Although still oversized, there was definitely a form under that fabric; not just a skeleton with skin. Had his face filled out a bit? A gloom bubbled across my consciousness as the consequences became clear. I looked at my own body. It was still the superhuman form I’d come to expect but…was it getting smaller?

As the minutes ticked by, my hunch became fact. I could feel my muscles slowly drain as my blood pumped into a growing Ben Fitz. As his chest filled the shirt and the skin on his face regained its youth, my body slowly but surely began shrinking away. I did not want to lose this body!

Panic-stricken, I fought against the paralytic drug with everything I had. All I had to do was shake the IV free. More muscle draining minutes wore by with no progress. Then I heard the sagging mattress groan. It must be working. I fought harder and harder against those chemical bounds. More groaning. Shrinking or not, I was still over three hundred pounds propped against this shattered bed. A few more rocks and…

Crash!

The frame gave its final death cry and collapsed completely. I fell awkwardly, my entire body now lying on the floor. A quick scan sank my heart as I realized that not only was the IV still firmly attached to my wrists (and neck!), the draining tubes were as well. To make matters worse, I could no longer see Dr. Fitz. All I saw were the tell-tale tubes reaching up from the machine of the floor and disappearing over the corner of the mattress. Exhausted, paralyzed, and now blind to what was happening, I felt resignation seep into me.

Minutes turned into hours and I could only watch as my crumpled body began to wither away. The definition and vascularity remained but the size mysteriously disappeared. In turn, I heard the sporadic moans escaping Ben Fitz’s mouth grow deeper and stronger. More than once, the bed groaned beneath his ever increasing weight as he stole it from me. Arms as big as a womans waist withered: 26 inches, 25, 24, 23. The sides of beef that made up my chest deflated like a balloon. The deep canyons of my 40 inch thighs grew shallow. I closed my eyes, unable to witness the slow, inevitable return to my once scrawny self.

Footsteps. A familiar voice.

I opened my eyes as the door knob rattled. I must have dozed off, only this time the memory of what had happened remained stuck in my brain like shards of glass. I immediately looked down at my body. Once one of the most powerful specimens on the planet, it now looked very similar to the healthy yet narrow frame I began the week with. Only now my skin seemed to hang off me and puddle around my body. Although still a body many would kill for, the sight of it only made me want to sob. All that power.

Gone.

Only then did I notice the giant, vascular arm hanging over the side of the bed in front of me. A striated bowling ball shoulder, an equally impressive upper arm, and a bulging forearm mapped with sinew, veins and muscle.

It was Dr Fitz and he was now overflowing the bed. I could see the top of his mountainous chest when it rose with every strong, deep breaths. He was the giant now.

How long had I been out? Late afternoon light beamed through the window. The doorknob rattled again, which would have made me jump had I not been paralyzed. Dr. Powers was back. Now that I was drained, I was useless to him. What would he do to me?

My breath got stuck in my throat as the door opened. An impressive figure strolled into the room but it wasn't Dr Powers.

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Florida20 483

Florida20
483

Rhys's first reaction when he saw me lying naked on the floor in the vicinity of a giant elderly man was one of embarrassment. "Sorry" escaped his lips and he started to shut the door before common sense kicked him in the nuts and forced him to take another look.

"Ryan...what the hell is going on?" he asked as he strolled in the door. His roommate Kevin, now a bronzed god standing in a tight white sleeveless shirt, was at his back. Kevin didn't even notice me as he strolled in. He could only stare slack-jaw at the form lying on his bed.

Rhys saw only me and I loved him for it. Whether it was the uncomfortable pause or a look in my eyes, my brother's face darkened. It was then he noticed the IV bag and the tubes running out of my body. He immediately ripped the IV needles out before looking questioningly at the thick blood filled ones.

"What the fuck?" I heard Kevin say as he stood over Dr Fitz. He reached out to touch him but my brother reached over and slapped his hand away. He immediately put a finger over his mouth in a gesture for him to shut it. I heard Fitz give a deep guttural groan as he shifted his mass before going silent again.

Kevin did as he was told but his eyes never left the bed. I still don't know if he noticed I was even here.

"What's going on?" Rhys whispered as he squatted down next to me. I tried to make my mouth work but all that came out was a barely audible squeak. My brother continued to stare at me, his ripped forearms resting on each knee as his mind worked feverously to piece this puzzle togehter. I did everything I could to say something or even move. Perhaps those suffocating chains weren't as tight now that their source was gone but I still couldn't budge them. Rhys' eyes grew questioning but he focused his attention on the tubes and then the quietly humming machine just to my left. He fumbled with it a moment before pressing something. The humming stopped.

With that, my brother resorted to shaking me. Nothing. He stood up and paced a moment before looking at me again. "Can you blink for me?" he whispered.

I blinked in response just as I heard Dr Fitz begin to moan again. It wasn't the weak panting of an elderly man. It was deep and guttural, like a bear growling from a cave. Panic returned. He was waking up. My brother and Kevin together would not be able to overpower him. Rhys returned his attention to me.

"One blink yes. Two blinks no," he began. "Are you in trouble?"

Yes, I blinked.

"Do you know what's going on?"

A pause. Yes, I said.

Dr Fitz's arm twitched and rose up, making his arm bulge in a way that made both Rhys and Kevin take an awe-inspired step back.

"Do you know who this is?" Rhys asked.

YES! I blinked. Stop him! I tried to tell him.

Rhys looked back at the giant and I heard the bed groan as he shifted his weight.

"Rick?" Fitz asked with a deep groggy voice as his hand went to his eyes.

It's too late, I thought with dismay. Rhys only stared at me with those shadowed eyes, his mind working.

"Should he stay asleep?" he asked.

I blinked as if my life depended on it and actually felt my head nodding just as the monster on Kevin's bed started to sit up. He was massive. Nearly four hundred pounds of shredded monster sat up and began to scratch the sleep from his eyes. I found it impossible to comprehend that was me mere hours ago. He was a god.

His head was still bald yet the liver spots had faded. His face looked nothing like the ancient man from before save for the gnarled grey eyebrows. His cheeks were full and his once foggy eyes sharp, if sleepy. The rest of his body was every bit the youthful giant I once was. The shirt that hung on him like a tent before was now tattered rags hanging from the granite slabs of his body.

"Rick?" Fitz asked again. He lowered his hand and, when he saw my brother, every muscle on his body flexed involuntarily. "You’re not Rick" his voice boomed.

As I mentally gave up hope that this rescue would work, my brother reached down and grabbed the IV tubes lying on the floor. In a flash that even the newly improved Ben Fitz couldn't defend, Rhys maneuvered the dripping needles in his fist and stabbed then into the monster's meaty neck.

Fury painted itself across Fitz's face as he tried to reach up and grab the needles. But there was enough residual medicine in his body for the newly concentrated injection to work almost immediately. His hand barely made it to his shoulder before his fingers spasmed. Then his arm twitched and fell limp to the bed. He gave one final twitch then fell from the seated position back onto the mattress and grew silent.

I felt a breath I didn’t know I was holding leave my body in a hush. My brother's face was ashen and his eyes filled with fear. Kevin just stood in his corner, mouth agape. I could have hugged my brother had my arms worked. The thought made my finger twitch.

The minutes wore on but my brother was patient with me. Kevin proved to be no help in this situation so Rhys told him to get food and not tell anyone a thing. After a longing look at the frozen giant on the bed he did as he was told. Rhys picked me up like easily and lay me on his collapsed mattress. I was able to see Fitz from this vantage point and saw he was still breathing.

"Thanks" was the first word out of my mouth. "Fitz" was the second. My brother stared at the strange creature with newfound intensity.

"I guess you were right all along," was all he said. I was never so grateful to have a twin. He had an inexplicable inkling of my thoughts as I did his. And that saved me today.

After fifteen minutes, I was able to move my arms with only moderate difficulty. My speech improved slowly and I gave Rhys a slurred and broken rendition of what happened as feeling slowly returned to my body.

To say I was in pain would be an understatement. I felt as if I'd been released from a medieval torture rack. My body didn't feel right; too long in some places, too tight in others. Visually, aside from the slight bagginess of my skin I looked normal but, oh, the horrors within.

"I wouldn't believe it if I didn't see that happened to Fitz," Rhys said as I completed my story. "And then there's this," he added as he flexed his bare arm. A nineteen inch boulder erupted from his Caribbean-tanned arm. Even though mine were nearly half again as big six hours ago, I would have been more than content to be his size. I tried to make peace with the model look I was again sporting.

My brother whistled. "Wow. Don't tell Kevin that. He's completely obsessed with size as if you couldn't tell by his man crush on ol' Fitzy back there." Rhys looked at me. "He's the real reason I'm like this, you know? I just followed in his footsteps. I'm big enough, bro. No need to worry I'll become the monster laying over there."

I tried to give him an assured look. I didn't tell him he was already a monster compared to me. I also said nothing about how I'd become every bit as obsessed as his roommate.

I thought back to the basement gym then over to Fitz...and gulped. "More."

Rhys looked incredulous.

"I mean it," I said defensively. "They took the remaining pills from your room and downed all of them. Last I saw they were well over eight feet tall and had to weigh five hundred pounds."

Rhys smirked.

"Then they took a whole pill on top of that! Who knows what they look like now."

"Ok, bro," Rhys said. "Let’s go see ‘em."

I resisted. "They've changed," I started.

"I know. You just told me that."

"No, mentally too," I said. "These pills...it's like a never ending steroidal orgasm. You lose yourself in it. At least, temporarily. The bigger I got the longer it would last. And I spread it out over days, these guys grew overnight."

"Relax," Rhys said as he helped me get into a pair of shorts. "They're my friends. Besides, whatever’s in that bag keeping Ben asleep isn’t going to last forever. We’re going to need some added muscle on our side."

I looked at the semi-conscious and still huge Dr Fitz. "He's not going anywhere right now," Rhys said.

I reluctantly agreed and let my oversized twin guide me down the hall. The walking helped. By the time I made it to the other end, I was able to support myself, if awkwardly.

Rhys knocked but there was no answer so he tried the door, finding it locked. Rhys shrugged and pulled a key out of his pocket. "Told you we were friends,” he said when I gave him an inquisitive look. “Kevin or I would hang out in here if the other was getting laid. Who knows, maybe we’ll find some of those pills you’re so interested in.”

Rhys opened the door and revealed a scene that stopped us dead in our tracks. The room was built for three occupants instead of two and was quite a bit larger than my brothers' double. The beds were on their sides and pushed against the wall make room. Rhys’ four titan friends were sitting against the walls, as naked as they were downstairs but not nearly as massive. Although beautiful specimens, they were “only” about 300 pounds each. The familiar IV bags were hanging from a stand over each of their heads. Two blood lines ran from each of them to yet another machine and the combined eight erupted from it to a figure beyond what even the last few hours would have made me think possible.

Dr. Powers was sprawled across the width and length of the room, slowly absorbing the other boys ounce by ounce. He was…unbelievable. His form took up most of the room’s square footage, arms and legs at strange angles to meet the natural contours of the room and its contents. The age had disappeared from his face save the silvery hair. From there his body exploded. Giant traps rose up like mountains, forming almost a pillow behind his head. His shoulders, traversed with inch deep ravines and pencil-thick veins, were the size of giant pumpkins. His arms were each larger than my waist, with vascular and striated triceps lifting his arms off the floor. Six-inch deep slabs of stone made up a chest which masked his face with the rise of each slumbering breath. Lats like wings flared out and acted like a mattress under his rapidly expanding frame. Each block of his abs were the size of an actual brick and just as hard. His abs were mostly hidden beneath a completely erect dick the size of my arm. His legs. Oh, shit, his legs. Each of his quads must have weighed as much as me. Muscle cabled over muscle and twitched as much as an inch as they grew right before my eyes. The man was covered in a sheen of sweat which set his body ablaze in contrasting light.

All-in-all, the man must have been ten feet tall and growing. I could see his giant feet visibly creeping across the floor as his body grew longer. In minutes they would hit a wall and start breaking through the plaster. Then the sleeping giant would awaken.

The only sound was that of Powers’ slumbered breathing, which reminded me of air rushing into a cave. I gave my brother a nod as I rested against a wall. Rhys, meanwhile, moved stealthily across the room towards the first two paralyzed boys. One was out cold but the other followed him with hope-filled eyes. Rhys pulled the anesthesia needles from their arms and began to make his way over the ever-growing Dr. Powers to the other two. Cody was one of them and sat unconscious and slumped against that wall, legs still those of a champion cyclist but nothing compared to the seventy inch boulders Rhys had to step over to reach him. After pulling the tube from his arm, he turned to the final victim and leaned over to remove his tube as well.

That’s when the laugh started. It was a deep, evil sound that stopped Rhys in his tracks. That’s when I saw Dr. Powers’ massive body began to move. His right leg bent at the knee and his calf exploded in size with the slightest twitch of his foot. Too awestruck to speak I could only watch as the titan moved to sit up and simultaneously reach his gigantic iron hand around my brother’s neck. Still seated, Powers’ head was level with my brother’s chin. Rhys struggled against his grip which only made the monsters gigantic arm muscles swell like leaden balloons.

“I don’t know how you freed yourself, boy,” Dr. Powers growled. “But I see you had to give up some of your size.” Then Powers made as if to stand. Every muscle in his body writhed over each other as he lifted his gargantuan frame up. Facing away from me, all I could see was a back as wide as a barn door rise over a pair of unnaturally striated glutes and send Powers’ head through the ceiling. Plaster and rock rained down on the four seated boys and sunlight streamed in from the hole.

“Auggh!” Dr. Powers moaned as he tore down large chunks of the roof with his free hand to make room for his still growing frame. He still held my brother by the neck like a rag doll, his feet dangling a foot above the ground and face turning purple. “I am a GOD to you,” the man bellowed to no one in particular. And he flexed his arms as he stretched his chest and pinched his back. The chaotic sea of muscle rolled across his body, raging red with blood and pulsing as they grew. My mind raced and my eyes darted wildly across the room for something to save my brother.

I looked up just in time to see my brother take the three anesthesia tubes he held and, with the last of his failing strength, reach up and jab them into the monster’s neck. My stomach tightened and the world seemed to stop. For a moment, Dr Powers only stared at my brother with those cold bombardier eyes. My brother looked back at him with challenging eyes that slowly began to lose focus. Then Powers’ tilted his head back and laughed again. It was a horrible sound and made me want to vomit. “It’s going to take more than that, boy,” he said.

Now with enough space to stretch, Dr. Powers did just that. He spread his arms out wide, my brother dangling wildly in his outstretched hand like he was nothing. Powers tested his body as if waking up from a month long hibernation. Muscles I thought were flexed before now exploded as, all across his body, ravines grew deeper, muscle grew thicker, and veins bulged larger. He roared in victory and in that moment of dark desperation I found a possible savior.

There, lying at the giant’s still growing feet was the thin black rod he’d used to knock me out earlier that day. The mere sight of it still sent a painful shiver down my spine but it was my only hope. I pushed myself off the wall and made my way awkwardly across the room. Pieces of debris rained all around me as Dr. Powers absorbed himself in the majesty of his own body. His free hand explored his naked body and he moaned in pleasure as his muscles flexed beneath them.

A couple steps further and I was close enough to reach out and touch him. My eyes were level with the base of his back. From this close proximity I could see his body in ever more impressive detail. Every fiber of muscle flared beneath his skin. It was all I could do to take my eyes off his frame and reach down to the black rod.

I didn’t have much time. I found what appeared to be a trigger and made a frantic search of the rest of the contraption. I’d only had one shot and it had to work. On one end I found a dial imprinted with numbers ranging from one to ten. It was currently set on three and without hesitation I upped the value to ten. I didn’t know if that would merely sting this monster or kill him. Judging by the darkening purple of my brother’s face, I didn’t care if it was the latter as long as he let him go. I turned the oversized cattle prod in my hands, ready to fire.

Then I noticed how quiet it was. Heart racing, I looked up and was horrified to see Powers’ staring down at me from over his gargantuan pecs, his face contorted in confusion. Instead of reaching down and ending me, he merely looked back at my brother choking in his grip.

“There are two of you?” he questioned.

I took advantage of the situation.

“Damn right,” I heard myself scream as I jammed the business end into the dense meat of his thigh. “Now let my brother go, you giant fuck.”

Then I pulled the trigger.

The room was suddenly filled with the hiss of a thousand snakes and Dr. Powers flew across the room as if launched by a catapult. I shielded my eyes as he crashed into the closet and through the wall into the bathroom on the other side. A wave of drywall and plaster rolled towards me like a dust storm as the room grew silent save the desperate hacking and deep breaths of my now freed brother. As the dust cleared, I saw Dr. Powers crumpled body lying under a damaged sink. His eyes were shut but his massive chest still rose and fell with breath. He was alive. I looked down at the black rod and saw that the other end had basically exploded. It would not be shocking anyone again soon.

Dropping the rod, I gathered the now freed anesthesia needles from the chaos of the room and pulled them along with the connected IV bags into the bathroom. Without care, I reinserted them into Powers’ neck with a not-so-graceful jab. I also did my best to up the dose on the IV bags to as high as it would allow. I had no idea if that would even keep him under but it was worth a shot.

As my adrenaline fell, my senses began to focus on things other than the unconscious monster. I looked over to see my brother on his hands and knees still relishing the fact he could breathe. The other four boys, now a paltry two hundred pounds of shredded muscle, were now all awake but still immobile save their wildly rolling eyes. The wreckage of the open roof and caved in wall largely spared them but the entire room was littered with flotsam and slowly settling dust. I also heard distant voices and was suddenly aware that this event hadn’t occurred in a vacuum. A quick peak out of the window revealed a small and slowly growing mass of students racing from the building. It must have sounded like an earthquake to them and they were smartly exiting the building. Among the crowd, I saw McKenzie among the crowd, standing cross-armed and nervous like an amazon among the rest of the impressively built crowd that surrounded her.

I didn’t have much time. I turned to see my brother, still coughing but cognizant, now on the other side of the hole in the wall and looking over the slumbering Dr. Powers. He appeared to be inspecting whether the blood tubes were still attached to his body. I also noticed he’d gathered the other ends and held them in a free hand. In the other hand was the machine responsible for moving the blood from one body to another.

“What are you doing?” I asked carefully.

CHAPTER 14

“What are you doing?” I asked again.

My brother held the weeping tubes in his fist and looked at me with hard eyes. “Fixing this, hopefully,” he said as he flung the free end of the tubes into the sink above Powers’ head. After a moment of fumbling with the machine, I saw the blood reverse course. It was now leaving Dr. Powers’ body and draining into the sink. Seeing all that power wasted on the sewer made me feel sick.

Satisfied, my brother walked back in the room and checked on his friends. “Help me get them out of here,” he said as he draped one over his shoulder. Frozen, I could only stare at the thousand pound beast through the hole in the wall. “RYAN!” my brother yelled, snapping me out of my stupor. Still somewhat dazed, I walked over to Cody, who was slowly regaining his movement.

“He said,” Cody whispered. “He said he could…make us bigger.” He closed his eyes. “Now…look at me.”

I looked at his shredded two hundred pound body and it was a struggle not to punch him. I ignored the voice that said my shredded 190 pound body would be the envy of most as well.

“Hurry,” my brother demanded as he stood with a friend under each arm. “We’re going to have company pretty soon.”

Shit! I thought. Momentarily forgetting Dr. Powers, I did my best to lift Cody to his feet and barely succeeded. I was still weakened by my own dose of that paralytic medicine. Leaving one of the four behind with a promise to return, we made our way down the empty dorm hall with three naked and semi-lucid jocks in tow. Moments later, we were in front of my brother’s door on the other end of the hall. I turned the knob and gave Rhys a surprised look when I found it locked.

Eyebrows up, Rhys unburdened himself of one of his naked friends and tried the knob with the same results. “Did you bring the key?” he asked me.

“No,” I responded just as the door knob shook and opened from the other side. I momentarily panicked at the thought of Dr. Fitz greeting us but was surprised to find Kevin behind the door. I heard my brother exhale in relief just as I did. But it was short lived.

Something wasn’t right.

Kevin was still in his white tank but it was now stretched over his body as if painted on and the bottom of it revealed a bronze midsection of deeply chiseled abs. He filled the doorway. His prior 6’2, 270 pound frame had added an inch or two and a couple dozen pounds in a few minutes.

Initially confused, I then noticed the familiar red tubes running from his arms and legs. Peeking around his form revealed that those tubes were still connected to Fitz’s slumbering (and now shrinking) frame. The old man’s face was beginning to look saggy and hollow again; his Olympian build diminishing. Kevin had done the same thing to Fitz as by brother had to Powers, only instead of draining the blood into a sink, Kevin was draining it into himself. He was going to add the 150 pounds of size stolen from me to his already gargantuan 270 pound frame.

“Oh, Kevin,” I heard my brother say. “What have you done?”

Kevin just laughed as he bent over and relieved my brother’s burden by scooping up a semi-conscious jock under each arm.

“You can’t do that,” I heard myself say in what could only be described as a whine. He was taking what was originally mine!

Dropping the boys on the collapsed mattress, Kevin stood and met my gaze with a spark in his eyes. He swelled like a peacock, shoulders wide and lats flaring, and stepped towards me. “Are you going to stop me, little man?” he asked in a rapidly deepening voice. I heard the fabric of his shirt begin to groan as he put me in his shadow.

Once of similar height, Kevin now bested me by a couple inches and was half again as wide. I heard stitches snap and pop as he continued to expand in his increasingly overwhelmed shirt. I looked down and saw his quads were beginning to press against his board shorts, their ridges and vascularity starting to bulge through the fabric.

“Ryan,” I heard my brother say. “We have to hurry.”

The siren could be heard blaring through the closed window. We only had a matter of seconds at this point.

“Hurry back, kiddies,” Kevin said as she stretched out his arms, flared his wing-like lats, and popped a double bicep pose that sent his twenty six inch arms flaring. Mountainous peaks bulged over his deeply developed triceps. “This show is about to get good.”

He had reached the point where he could easily manage both of us if we tried to stop him. There was nothing I could do. I let myself be dragged back down the hall, Kevin’s deepening laughter chasing me the whole way. The sirens were at their maximum volume now and I heard official-sounding voices yelling for calm to the gathering crowd below.

“I gotcha, Joe,” I heard my brother say as he hefted the final boy over his shoulder. I found myself staring at the shrinking giant lying in the bathroom. Dr. Powers was significantly smaller but still over twice even Kevin’s current size. Maybe I could teach Kevin a lesson, I thought as I stepped towards the hulking figure.

“Ryan, the cops are in the stairwell,” my brother said. I took another step. However, after an audible sigh from my brother, I felt myself being picked up and carried out of the room.

Rage took over and I fought Rhys like a bagged cat. “Let me go, Rhys!” I yelled. “I don’t need your protection.” I squirmed against his iron grip but he only grabbed me tighter.

“In ten seconds, there will be a swarm of cops ready to arrest anyone remotely close to that room. There’s nothing you can do other than run.”

I continued to struggle as he carried me down the hall but I knew he was right. Besides, I couldn’t budge the iron grip of my twin brother. I watched as Powers’ gargantuan form disappeared from view then I just hung helplessly as Joe and I were raced down the hall atop my brother’s shoulders.

Rhys had us back in his room with the door shut behind just as I heard the hall door bang open followed by a rush of movement and orders racing down the hall towards the chaos of the other end.

I looked over and saw Kevin, standing like a god admiring his expanding body, strategically positioned in front of a now awake and still immobile Fitz. The only sound originating within the room was a panting Rhys and the continuous sound of popping fabric.

“Glad you could make it,” Kevin said, his voice dripping with ecstasy. “Fitz is a terrible for conversation right now. He won’t even tell me how he got this big.” He took a deep breath and exhaled with a moan. “Oh god, you should feel this. I don’t know how that old fucker could have slept through this. It’s fucking unreal.”

“You guys causing all that ruckus out there? Sounded like the building was coming down. Heh heh, maybe I’ll help with the demolition,” Kevin said, although his voice had noticeably quieted. “Oh god here it goes.” Kevin bent over in a most muscular and his tank top exploded off his body, releasing a wave of muscle across his back, shoulders, traps, chest and arms. He was a mountain of writhing power. Traps bulged a foot off his back, which itself spread across his frame like giant wings. Kevin pumped his arms over-and-over, squeezing the bicep ferociously. Each time, the peaks of his arms pushed out a little further and the striations grew deeper. Clearly defined fibers shot across each muscle like sunbursts. His giant hands clenched and unclenched, forcing swelling cables of muscle to run over each other beneath the stretched skin of his forearms. All the while, he grew taller and taller.

“You want to feel this?” Kevin boomed and I was surprised to find myself standing within arm’s reach of the giant. Without thought, I touched his chest, now at my eye level. His skin was on fire and the muscle beneath dense as concrete. I could feel him expanding beneath my hand. He was so hard.

“Oh shit,” he groaned as if mid-orgasm just as a rip ran up the side of each thigh. Kevin looked at me with a stupefied grin then arched his back and flexed his quads. Just like his shirt, the fabric of his board shorts literally flew off his body. His quads immediately expanded to twice their former circumference as if held undersized in the confines of the nylon. “Fuck me,” Kevin moaned to himself. A dick the size of my forearm was now released from its cage sprang to life, finding its way into Kevin’s hand. He grabbed my arm with his other hand and pressed my hand against his own fifty inch quads. He was a flesh-covered wall of rippling iron. Dense muscle writhed and swelled beneath the skin.

“Touch me, midget,” he said between gasping breaths. “Oh god.” He flexed his arm, seemingly involuntarily, swelling his thirty five inch vein covered boulders. He forced my hand across his own body and I was unable to stop him. He forced me across his ever deepening abs and thickening eighty inch chest. “Can you feel that?” he asked, eyes closed as he began to stroke his own growing shaft. “Ohhh fuck,” he moaned again as he came and shot across the room. In his ecstasy, he let me go and I backed away as he focused entirely on himself.

The entire scene could have been seconds or minutes but no one in the room could take their eyes off him as he swelled into an eight foot tall behemoth. Mammoth hands which could have crushed a watermelon continued to explore his naked body with vigor as Kevin’s downturned head rose to brush the ceiling. Then, suddenly, his eyes grew wide and he turned around in fury to Dr. Fitz and, to our surprise, my brother. Rhys stood above the old man eyes defiant and the tubes gripped in his hand and needles taken from Fitz’s body

Kevin took a menacing step towards Rhys and I suddenly wished I had that cattle prod back. “You want to feed me too?” Kevin asked darkly. His form dwarfed my brother but Rhys stood tall. “If not, little man, put those things back and get out of the way.”

“He’s done,” Rhys said. “There’s nothing left.”

I looked over at Fitz to find him much like the ancient figure I’d seen before, maybe a little bigger but still considerably frail. My eyes were drawn back to the mountainous landscape of Kevin’s back. Dr. Powers was over twice his size a moment ago but, for some reason, Kevin’s presence was more intense. Maybe it was his youth, or boyish face. Or maybe it was the way his arms and back expanded with each deep breath. Regardless, he looked like a god.

Rhys stood his ground. “It’s done, Kevin,” he said calmly as I circled around and joined my brother. Kevin’s face was red with fury but there was an obvious internal conflict. He raised his mammoth hands to the side of his head, his swollen biceps barely allowing him to complete the movement. His gasping breaths slowly began to grow shallow as he struggled against the rage in his mind.

Finally, after an eternity. “You’re right,” he said. Then he sat on his crushed bed, his giant frame making it appear a doll’s toy. Rage passed and his mind in check, Kevin looked at his body as if for the first time. “Fuck yeah,” he whispered as he started feeling himself all over again.

“What do we do now, Rhys?” I asked.

Rhys exhaled and dropped the tubes. “Now,” he said. “We clean this up.”

EPILOGUE

I sat in my running car, staring blankly at the dash.

“See you soon, I hope,” McKenzie said from outside the driver’s window. I looked at her and gave what I hoped was an enticing smile. It was a sham, we both knew. I was no longer big enough to give her what she wanted and she was more than I could hope to handle. I was back to 6’1 and 190 pounds, the same size I started the week.

A duffle bag came in through the open passenger window, followed by the face of my brother as he rested his bulging arms on the door’s window sill. “That should be all of your stuff,” he said with a cocky grin. “And I threw in some munchies for the road.”

“Thanks,” I said, again with a painfully painted façade of happiness smeared on my face. Rhys wasn’t fooled in the slightest but his face kept that smile. Was he mocking me? Was this how it was going to be now? He knew I wasn’t ever going to reach his size now and was taking his place as the dominant brother?

My stomach rolled. I couldn’t wait to get out of here.

“How’s Kevin?” I asked politely.

Rhys shrugged, sending the mass of muscle on his shoulders and traps flaring. “He’s loving himself. I’m going to try to find some clothes for him today but won’t be holding my breath. He’s getting restless, but knows he should lay low at least until the press clears out.”

I nodded. How long would that be? I asked myself, looking around. It was all over the news and people were flocking to the Muscle Dorm. Although spring break was still a couple days from being over, enough students were in town to create a sizeable crowd. Cody and his friends, wearing only shorts borrowed from Rhys and Kevin’s wardrobe, looked like teen bodybuilders beneath the overhead sun. They also looked abashed and had each been a constant slew of apologies since they were able to speak again. They’re not that much bigger than me now, I thought.

I’d forgiven them, though. I knew the draw of those pills all too well.

A three hundred pound Dr. Powers had been escorted in handcuffs to a police car and driven away. I saw his distant grin as they lowered him into the back seat. He got what he wanted. I wasn’t even sure what they could charge him for. Who would believe the actual story?

“What about Fitz?” I asked my brother, who was still hunched over the sill.

“I made a deal,” he said, the smile still plastered on his face. “He keeps enough size to forgo the wheelchair and we all agree to shut up about the whole thing. He threw in a few other concessions.”

I nodded vacantly, my attention on the circus behind my brother. The press was still attempting to figure out what had happened. They were trying to make a connection between the destruction in the Muscle Dorm and the rampage recently experienced at the school gym. I’d forgotten about David, the growing giant I’d left to destroy the rec center as I ran back to the dorm. They had apparently tried to arrest him too, but he’d broken free every time they’d gotten him handcuffed. All-in-all I was leaving behind a trail of destruction and I wasn’t surprised my brother was in a rush to get me out of site.

As if reading my mind, Rhys gave the window sill a pat and pulled away. “You get out of here. Most people thought you were me and I have an airtight alibi that I was in the Bahamas all week. That story would be shot in the face if they saw us together.”

I found myself longing to be back where I wasn’t the smallest person in the room. I desperately wanted to go back to my own university. “Thanks bro,” I said as I put the car in gear.

“One more thing,” Rhys said as he popped his face back in the car. He threw a metal object through the opening and let it land with a thud on the duffel bag in my passenger seat. “You’re not the only detective in this family.” He winked at me then gave the car another pat. Confused, I let the car move me forward and away from the crowd. As I pulled onto the road running through campus, I looked over and looked at the heavy iron padlock, still locked and connected to the metal brackets it once held together. I felt my eyebrows furrow as I inspected it.

It was just an ordinary lock and had obviously been ripped off something. I shrugged and threw it back on the bag as I continued driving. What’s that supposed to mean? Fucker.

I let my dark mood fester and before long I was on the interstate heading north. I turned up the radio and let the road dashes hypnotize me as they sped by. I thought of the future, of returning home this summer to find myself dwarfed by my identical twin brother. Walking next to his hulking frame would be a continual reminder of our new paradigm. Old friends would see him and gasp in awe while ignoring the twenty-five pounds I’d gained over the year. Shit, they would probably think I’d shrunk. Could we work out together? The mere thought of having to constantly remove weights so I could perform my set was too much to bear. The beach? Fuck that.

I thought about that smirk plastered on his face as I said my goodbyes. Why was my brother so happy? Did he not see what this would do to our relationship? Of course he knew. He was always the smart one.

You’re not the only detective in this family.

My brother’s words lingered in my head. I reached over and picked the lock back up. It was as familiar as a blade of grass; familiar because they were everywhere. It was just like any other blue and metallic Master lock. The broken brackets still wrapped around the hoop were nothing special either. The lock had been ripped from a shitty old cabinet by the look of it.

“What are you trying to tell me?” I asked the lock. Exhausted, I threw the lock back on my bag. The impact sounded a dull thud and a faint rattle.

That rattle! Could it be?

Heart racing, I pulled over onto the shoulder of the highway with a screech of tires. I’d seen the lock everywhere… and one place in particular. It had once locked away the contents of the janitor’s locker in the bowels of Powers Dorm.

Once parked, I unzipped my bag with the fervor of a drug addict. The motion made that rattle all the more obvious.

So this dorm is his laboratory, my brother told me as the anesthesia wore off. Specimens, supply room, and all.

Now unzipped, I upended the bag letting the clothes and toiletries fall to the passenger seat. In addition to my belongings fell a large brown jar, topped with a black cap. I picked it up and shook it, letting the rattle of the contents within fill my ears. I almost tenderly removed the cap and looked inside

Filling the bottle were dozens and dozens of the familiar granite speckled tablets.

I was enough to turn all of Powers hall into an army of Kevins. My brother, in the chaos of the afternoon, had the foresight to check the very source of Dr. Powers’ stash. These must have been the concessions Fitz had bought Rhys’ silence with.

I felt my body grow warm at the thought of being given a new chance. This time would be different. This time, I would control the situation. There would be no Dr. Powers to stop me. I could watch my friends grow around me and I’d be the giant among them. My heart raced and I heard myself laughing on the side of a lonely interstate.

Above the rush of excitement and the orgasmic thought of getting my body back was a single thought above all others. And it shamed me to have lost sight of it:

I had the best brother in the world and, no matter my size, he was the bigger man.

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Kymuscleboy 2,421

Kymuscleboy
2,421

Wow! This is a story that somehow eluded me during its initial posting. I'm sorry I missed it then, but I'm thrilled to have found it! This is one of the best muscle stories of all time! A complete epic. There is a certain joy in reading the story from start to finish within a few days. So I guess that is one advantage to not seeing it until it was finished. If there was one thing I felt was left sort of unfinished, I wish David's transformation had been described in full. I've written it in my head about a dozen times!

Florida20, if you see this, many thanks for writing this incredible story, and I hope you decide to write again soon!

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growingjock 141

growingjock
141

Awesome story. Would love to see an alternate ending where as the twins start leaving, Kevin grabs the tubes draining into the sink and connects them to himself as well. Too busy rushing away from the scene, they can’t do anything to stop Kevin—the new 1200 pound god on campus.